England AND Australia are hit with fines after first Ashes Test at Edgbaston

England and Australia have each lost two points from their World Test Championship tally and were fined 40 per cent of their match fees for under-fees at Edgbaston.

Pat Cummins steered the Aussies to victory in the final session of a thrilling first Ashes Test match at Edgbaston, with his gutsy knock giving the tourists a two-wicket win on Tuesday.

The game was played against the backdrop of two contrasting cricketing ideologies, with Ben Stokes’ brash, free-flowing style failing to overpower Cummins’ traditional methods.

And as both captains adjusted their respective strategies during the five-day battle, their sluggish over percentages were picked up on by the ICC, which has now imposed sanctions on the two sides.

In a statement, the ICC said: ‘Andy Pycroft of the ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees imposed the penalties after it was found that both teams were two overs short of their targets after time limits were taken into account.

England are now -2 points in the World Test Championship standings

Australian captain Pat Cummins and England counterpart Ben Stokes accepted the sanctions, meaning no formal hearings were required.

The sanctions see Australia lose two World Test Championship points, leaving the Cummins side 10 points in total after their first test of the new cycle.

England will also be deducted two points, meaning they are behind all eight of their rivals in the 2023-25 ​​World Test Championship cycle.’

In fact, England is at -2 points in the WTC table as they took no points from the Edgbaston test.

It is the second time in a matter of weeks that Australia has been pinged for under-tariffs after being penalized in their WTC final against India earlier this month.

Both sets of players were fined 40 percent of their match money after the match