Jos
Buttler on deciding against 'risky' appeal for obstruction against Matthew Wade
England captain Jos
Buttler was diplomatic when asked why he did not appeal for obstructing the
field against Australia's Matthew Wade in his side's narrow eight run
victory in the T20 International on Sunday.
With the match in the balance, Wade stuck his
arm out and blocked Mark Wood as the England bowler tried to take a return
catch after the Aussie batter top-edged the ball into his helmet.
Replays appeared to show an infringement from
the Australian and he likely would have been dismissed had England appealed,
but Buttler declined the opportunity because he was not entirely sure what had
occurred.
Additionally, with a further two T20s in the
series and the T20 World Cup to follow, plus a three-match one-day series after
the World Cup, the 32-year-old was keen not to incur the wrath of the
Australian public so early in the tour.
"I was looking at the ball the whole time
so I wasn't sure what happened," said Buttler, who was trying to run
around in front of the stumps to take the catch.
"They [the umpires] asked if I wanted to
appeal, but I thought we are here for a long time in Australia so it would be a
risky one to go for so early in the trip."
Buttler conceded he may have taken a different
stance if it had been a World Cup match but, ultimately, the decision did not
cost England who defended 208 to win by eight runs.
The match was Buttler's first since recovering
from a calf injury and he scored 68 from 32 balls in an opening stand of 132
with Alex Hales.
Hales was preferred to Phil Salt at the top of
the order and more than justified his selection by top-scoring for England with
84 from 51 balls.
"Alex has a fantastic record in
Australia," Buttler added.
"It was a really difficult decision as
Alex and Phil Salt have been batting really well but we just felt Alex's record
in Australia puts him ahead.
"He's very destructive, we managed to get
off to a great start and I really enjoyed that partnership."
