Steve Smith Under Fire for “Time-Wasting” After Australia Bowl Just 74 Overs

Steve Smith faced strong criticism after Australia bowled only 74 of the required 90 overs on Day 1 in Brisbane, with experts accusing him of “time-wasting” on purpose.

Australia’s stand-in captain Steve Smith faced heavy criticism after Australia bowled only 74 of the required 90 overs on Day 1 of the second Ashes Test in Brisbane. This happened even with a 30-minute extension. The slow over rate was the lowest ever recorded in a full day’s play in Australia. Many believe the hosts deliberately delayed play to avoid facing a new pink ball under lights while England were nine down late in the session.

Former Australia batter Simon Katich called the situation unacceptable and labelled it a joke.

“To think we are going to get through an extra half-hour, so six and a half hours’ cricket, and we are going to get 74 overs in. It’s beyond a joke, an absolute joke,” Fox Cricket quoted Katich as saying.

Ex-England pacer Steven Finn said the delays looked intentional. He then urged umpires to intervene as Smith repeatedly took time resetting the field. Former Australia captain Mark Waugh also criticised the approach, saying the tactic was clear and umpires should have acted sooner to stop the slowing of play.

“Smith took a long time to set the field there … he’s now changing the field between balls. Certainly strikes me that this is a good time for Australia to be delaying things. Means that if this last wicket does fall, each minute that goes by, it’s a minute that England won’t have that bright pink ball in their hand in these conditions. Definitely a tactic here, and the umpires should have a word with him. Every second that ticks by, Australia will have fewer seconds to bat this evening. It really is obvious,” Finn said on TNT Sports.

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“I don’t think it was acceptable at the end (of the day). We know what (Smith) was trying to do. He didn’t want to face any overs. But the umpires have got to step in then, when you’re deliberately slowing the game down. Anyone can see that, if you’re got half a brain, you can see it happening,” Mark Waugh chipped in.

Notably, a 2023 ICC rule change removed over-rate penalties for innings under 80 overs. This allows Australia to slow play on Day 1 without risking fines or WTC point losses. The hosts then returned for Day 2 on Friday with six overs to take England’s final wicket.