Australian journalist shares Ben Stokes’ obstructing the field dismissal from 2015 after England captain Jos Buttler refuses to appeal against Matthew Wade for similar dismissal
Matthew Wade was the one who had appealed for Ben Stokes' dismissal in 2015 when many thought Stokes was protecting himself from the throw of the bowler
Yesterday’s T20I game played between Australia and England was a subject of much debate among cricket fans, not because of the result of the match, but because of a particular incident towards the end of the match, where the Australian wicketkeeper-batsman Matthew Wade clearly tried to obstruct the England bowler Mark Wood from taking a catch in his follow through.
In cricket, there are laws in place according to which a batsman can be given out obstructing the field if the on-field umpire or the third umpire is convinced that the batsman deliberately tried to obstruct the fielding side in any way, but that can only happen if the opposition captain decides to appeal for the dismissal. In the case of yesterday’s incident, England captain Jos Buttler didn’t appeal for the dismissal.
After the game, an Australian journalist shared a similar incident that happened 7 years ago during an ODI between England and Australia where Ben Stokes was given out obstructing the field as he stopped the ball with one of his hands when the ball was directed towards the stumps.
Matthew Wade had appealed for obstructing the field dismissal against Ben Stokes in 2015
The case of Stokes was a bit more subjective in the sense that it was the bowler who had thrown the ball at the stumps after collecting it in his follow through and some people thought that Stokes’ hand went up only because he wanted to protect himself from the throw.
But, Australia still appealed for the dismissal and the third umpire gave it out. Interestingly, Matthew Wade was playing in that game as well and he was the first one to actually appeal for the dismissal. Steve Smith, who was the captain of Australia at that time, had said that Wade could see the incident clearly from behind the stumps. He was of the opinion that the ball was not going to hit Stokes and it was a deliberate act of obstructing the field by the batsman.
Somewhat pointless observation…
AdvertisementWhen Ben Stokes was given out obstructing the field in 2015, Matthew Wade was one of the first Australian players to appeal for a wicket.#AUSvENG pic.twitter.com/iu3CBER90J
— Nic Savage (@nic_savage1) October 9, 2022
The England captain Jos Buttler, however, didn’t go for the appeal and it triggered quite a debate among the cricket fans of both countries yesterday, with some England fans not too happy about Buttler’s decision.
