Jos Buttler defends call to not appeal for obstruction against Australia’s Matthew Wade in first T20I

Perth : England skipper Jos Buttler has said he did not appeal Australia batter Matthew Wade obstructing bowler Mark Wood as he tried to take a catch in the opening T20I here on Sunday because it would have soured the atmosphere too early on the trip Down Under.

Australia wicketkeeper-batter Wade, who scored 21 as the hosts lost the first T20I by eight runs chasing 208, seemed to obstruct Wood as the England bowler tried to take a return catch.

There has been much talk in the media that Buttler should have appealed afterwards, but the England skipper said, “I didn’t really see what happened and we’ve only just got to Australia so I thought just carry on in the game.”

“I was asked if I wanted to appeal, and I thought, ‘We’re here for a long time in Australia. It would be a risky one to go for so early in the trip’,” Buttler added.Had Buttler appealed, Wade could have been dismissed for obstructing the field.

“I was just looking at the ball,” said Buttler. “It’s quite hard, I don’t know what I’m appealing for really, I could maybe have asked some of the other boys to see if they had a better view.”Australia’s Marcus Stoinis added that the blow to Wade’s helmet might have momentarily confused the batter.

“It’s chaos when you’re hit on the head and you’re running around and you don’t know where the ball is.”On the match, Buttler said, “Australia seemed to have it under control and we needed to find ways to take wickets but we did that and showed great character.

We can take some really good confidence from that. This was a great game of cricket and I expect two more.”