Matthew Wade controversy: The age-old British prejudice, if someone had to sum up Buttler's reaction to the Matthew Wade fiasco, this certainly would suffice. The English wicketkeeper-batsman who keeps on lamenting about how Mankading and the spirit of the game don't go hand in hand chose to maintain his silence over Wade's deliberate attempt to obstruct Mark Wood from taking his catch. On the other hand, Marcus Stoinis defended his compatriot Wade by saying that it was complete chaos.
Both Australia and England are in the final phase of their preparations for the T20 World Cup. Before this Australia lost a T20I series to India by a margin of 2-1, but they made a dominant comeback as they ended up defeating the West Indies by a margin of 2-0. England on the other hand, are looking like a confident side. In the absence of Jos Buttler, England defeated Pakistan on their home turf by a margin of 4-3. England started off their Australia trip with an emphatic win as they edged ahead of the hosts by a margin of 8 runs.
The controversial incident happened during the 17th over. English speedster Mark Wood fired in a short one at Matthew Wade who failed to get out of the way. The ball took Wade's top edge and it was Wood who ran to claim the catch. In what looked like an attempt to get back to the crease, Wade collided with Wood and hence got out of the corner. Now, this has sparked a fresh set of controversies around the cricketing world. After the match, Aussie all-rounder Marcus Stoinis attended the post-match press conference and tried to defend his teammate who was at the dead center of criticism.
Stoinis said:
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There's a lot that goes on there when you're hit in the head and you're running around. I don't think I know about it.
When the pressers asked Stoinis about Australia's take on it and if they would've appealed, the all-rounder subtly dodged the question by saying that he always fields on the boundary line and he has no idea about what needs to be done. It was Buttler's reaction, that surprised everybody. The English skipper was in complete denial and had no concrete reason of justifying his decision.
Buttler said:
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We certainly did not want to appeal. I just had my eyes on the ball the whole time, so I didn't have any idea about what was happening. We've only just got to Australia. so I thought just carry on with the game. I didn't see it live, but if it was a World Cup game, you never know.
Aussie wicketkeeper-batsman Matthew Wade has been in the form of his life. He almost took Australia home as he scored 21 off 15 deliveries but fell prey to Sam Curran. Eventually, hosts Australia lost the match to England by 8 runs.
