Ben Stokes has reacted in a sarcastic tone to the ICC’s over-rate policies ahead of the second Test against New Zealand in Wellington.

Both teams were docked three World Test Championship (WTC) points with 15 per cent match fee fines across the board last week in the first Test in Christchurch.

Stokes on Wednesday took to his Instagram story to share his frustration with the ICC. “Good on you ICC,” Stokes wrote followed by three ‘shrug’ emojis. “Finished the game with 10 hours of play still left.”

England won the match in the second session of Day IV after chasing down 104 in just 12.4 overs.

Stokes also used a media opportunity at Basin Reserve to elaborate on his grievances.

“The most frustrating thing, from both teams’ points of view, is that the game finished early, there was a result,” Stokes said. “But I think the frustration actually stems back to last year in the Ashes where it was the first time I really brought it up to the match referee and the umpires,” the England captain said.

“I guess the most frustrating thing is that it’s always an issue depending on where you are in the world and the style of cricket that’s played. There’s never an over-rate issue in Asia because of how much spin is played.

“There’s so many tactical decisions that you need to make, whether that be chatting with the bowler or field changes. As a captain, I like to change things quite a lot and the field could be completely different six balls in an over. But that’s not taken into consideration. And getting told to just ‘hurry up’ isn’t going to fix it, because we’re out there playing a game.

“The times and the rules are the same wherever you go in the world. From a player’s point of view — and I’m not the only one who shares this opinion — we would like to have a lot more communication with the ICC around this.”

Stokes also revealed that he has not signed an over-rate chargesheet — the document from the match referee confirming a team is going to incur a penalty — since the Lord’s Test against Australia in 2023 as a form of protest.

“The two conversations I’ve had with the match referees have actually been very good and the match referees have handled it very, very well and been very understanding...” Stokes said. “But it’s been over a year now since I made some comments around the over rates and still to this day we’re yet to hear any response back from anyone at the ICC.

“I’ve not signed an over-rate sheet since Lord’s in the Ashes just until we hear some communication back from the ICC that we’re still waiting for. Captains have to sign over-rate sheets and fines and stuff, but I have said ‘no’ until I have the conversations. But they still take the fines off you anyway.”

Pope stays keeper

England retained Ollie Pope as their wicket-keeper for the second Test following Jordan Cox’s thumb injury.