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"Beyond a joke”: Fleming and Katich slam Day 1 over rate
Nicholas Quinlan • December 5th, 2025 2:43 am
Simon Katich and Damien Fleming have both called out the slow over rates during the First day of action in the Second Ashes Test on Thursday.
Despite having an extra half an hour of play, Australia only managed to get through 74 overs, which is 16 below the allotted 90 overs that can be bowled.
As a result of these slow overs, it meant that the hosts didn’t even get the opportunity to bowl with a new ball, which saw them struggle to take the final wicket in England’s first innings as Joe Root and Jofra Archer got their team's total over 300 runs.
Towards the end of SEN’s coverage of Day 1, the former Australian batting opener, Katich, expressed his displeasure with how the game had moved so slowly.
“That’s ridiculous,” he said on SEN Cricket.
“To think we are going to get through an extra half and hour of play, so six and a half hours of play today, and this will be 74 overs, is beyond a joke.
“It’s an absolute joke.”
And in the post-day reaction show, both would continue to show their bewilderment at how there had been so few overs bowled in the match.
Fleming: “The penalties don’t mean anything.”
“What are we, 16 overs short (of the day’s minimum).
Katich: “It’s gone the other way, it’s gone way back.”
“I don’t think I ever played in a game where you didn’t bowl at least 85 overs in the day. It was unheard of.”
“And now we are into the 70s.”
Fleming: “I don’t think even the great West Indian teams of the 80s would bowl 74, I think they would bowl more than that.”
Currently, the penalty for slow over rates includes players being fined five per cent of their match fee for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time.
This also sees the team deducted one point in the World Test Championships for each over short.
Those penalties will be imposed and determined by the match referee.
Day 2 will begin at 2pm local time (3pm AEDT) with SEN having LIVE coverage of every ball bowled through its radio network and the SEN app.
