Usman Khawaja has played a key role in ensuring players are not hit as hard in the pocket and potentially saved teams from World Test Championship (WTC) points deductions after he revealed he raised the issue of slow over-rate punishments with the ICC.

After their recent AGM in Durban, the ICC announced amendments to their sanctions for slow over-rates: players will now be fined 5% of their match fee for each over a team is down (previously it was 20%) with the level capped at 50%, reduced from the previous upper limit of their entire match fee.

Alongside the changes to the fines element, over-rate penalties will not kick in if a team is bowled out inside 80 overs instead of the earlier mark of 60 overs giving sides more leeway before WTC points are deducted – an element the ICC believed it was important to retain.

Khawaja explained he had directly approached Wasim Khan, the ICC’s general manager cricket, having got to know him through his time at the PSL, to raise players’ concerns about the level of punishments using the example of the entertaining and results-driven cricket being produced in the ongoing Ashes.

The new rulings will be backdated to the start of the current WTC cycle which began with the Ashes. Players from both teams were fined 40% of their match fee at Edgbaston and docked two WTC points apiece, while heavier sanctions were on the line for the Lord’s Test.

Australia were also fined 80% (four overs behind) of their match fee in the WTC final while India were docked 100% (five overs behind) but there were no points deductions at stake in that game.

“I was pretty frustrated with what was happening,” Khawaja said at Old Trafford ahead of the fourth Ashes Test. “I just thought someone has to find a way to speak to the ICC about it. We had played three games and they’d been three really good games with results, [providing] entertainment and we were getting fined 80% of our match fee. It’s a lot of money.

“[It’s] just really frustrating as a player, you are giving it your all out there, providing entertainment, then you are getting stung for it.”

Pat Cummins and Andrew McDonald also became involved while at ICC level, the reduced punishments were quickly pushed through during the Durban meeting, although there remained areas of compromise with Khawaja saying he hoped it would have been 2.5% of the match fee for every over behind and even more leeway given if a positive result is achieved.

“Wasim was really good,” he said. “We talked [and] he took the feedback. To his credit, it wasn’t just listening and no action. Actions happened within one or two weeks. We are trying to go as fast as we can. It’s the conditions that make it hard for us. If you are in India, we are never behind the over-rate [with] two spinners going at it. We were getting results, that’s what was frustrating. Think England were frustrated with it, too.

“I appreciate the ICC actually listening to players. It’s the first time I have had that with the ICC. Think it’s a really good step forward.”

While the ICC has yet to confirm the new levels of fines and points deductions for the early Ashes Tests, Australia could benefit from the new regulations as they bowled out England within 80 overs in their second innings at Edgbaston.

At Lord’s, the over-rates were again significantly down with both sides facing losing their entire match fees and a significant number of points. Now, however, it’s understood Australia stand to lose two WTC points (alongside a 10% fine) as only England’s second innings extended beyond 80 overs, which may yet be significant as the 2020-21 cycle showed when Australia narrowly missed the final but is far less severe than it might have been. England, though, still face much heavier punishment as Australia’s innings both exceeded 80 overs, although the financial element will be reduced under the new system.

An Australian player receives AUD$18,000 per Test match, so for those involved at Lord’s, if the fine was reduced from 100% of the match fee to 10%, they would benefit to the tune of more than $16,000 each.

“I’m still pushing for, if you get a result in the game before tea on the last day, you shouldn’t get a fine,” Khawaja added. “You’ve got you what you wanted. It’s cricket. You’ve got laws and rules. They’ve been there for a very long time. Sometimes you just have to look back on them and to see if you need an update a little bit.”

Sourav Ganguly, who is the chair of the Men’s Cricket Committee and sits on the ICC’s chief executive committee, said: “The Men’s Cricket Committee felt strongly that over-rate penalties in the form of WTC points deductions should remain but recommended that players should not have 100% of their match fee at risk. We believe this provides a balance between maintaining over-rates and ensuring we are not deterring players from playing Test cricket.”