The ICC has the power to ban captains for slow over rates and Ponting ran the risk of receiving a one-Test suspension had he stuck with his pace bowlers, given the slow rate they were managing.
By issuing shallow water drilling permits at a rate 10 percent that of the same time last year, BOEM has imposed a de facto ban on offshore energy exploration on top of the official deepwater stay that ran from May to November.
Luis Suarez, who was serving the first of a 10-game ban for biting Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic, was barely missed as the Reds ran riot at St James Park.