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On the surface, the second ODI between England and Australia looked to follow a similar trajectory to that of the first, with Australia scoring over 300 batting first and then bowling England out in the mid-240s. But surface appearances can be hilariously deceiving.
ENGLAND VS AUSTRALIA THIRD ODI SCORECARD
Here are the ratings for the second ODI.
Ben Stokes
Grade: A+
With England 3-141 in the 26th over, Mitchell Starc fielded a ball hit straight back to him by Ben Stokes, saw that Stokes was out of his ground and hurled the ball at the stumps. In the process of attempting to avoid the ball, Stokes also threw out a hand and prevented the ball from hitting the stumps. He was therefore given out for obstructing the field.
Naturally, the English media immediately began castigating Stokes for his poor sportsmanship, demanding that he be suspended at once for such a gross violation of the spirit of cricket. Throwing a hand up to stop the ball and avoid being run out? Appalling behaviour.
Ha ha ha. No, of course not. Fury was instead directed at Steve Smith for not withdrawing the appeal and recalling Stokes. It was difficult to keep track of the arguments why, but most of it seemed to be to do with the fact that Stokes was just trying to avoid being hit and couldn’t possibly have had time to deliberately parry the ball away.
Which is fair enough, because at no point during the Test series did Stokes take lightning split-second reflex catches that prove he has incredible reaction time. If anything, Stokes is being punished for having reflexes that are too good. It’s unfair for him to be penalised for it. Is this the way we want our game to be played?
Mitchell Starc
Grade: A+
The other point to remember with the Stokes dismissal is that when players back away from toe-crushing yorkers and are bowled, it’s always been considered proper cricket etiquette to immediately call them back because they were afraid of being injured and were just reacting instinctively.
All those times Starc bowled people during the World Cup? Far too fast. Unfair and morally repugnant. Grow up and slow down, Mitchell. Having said that, it is disappointing for Starc not to be credited with the wicket. Let’s sort this out, ICC.
Eoin Morgan
Grade: A+
At the end of the game Eoin Morgan came out and suggested he would have retracted the appeal for Stokes’ perfectly legal dismissal.
No surprises there, really. He’s the England captain and would have quite liked somebody to have stuck around with him while he made 85 (87), in a doomed, singlehanded attempt to guide England to victory. Calling Stokes back after he’d been given out would have been just the thing he needed to bolster his team’s chances.
But allowing captains to withdraw appeals against their own players seems a step too far for me. You’d know they wouldn’t abuse the process, because that’s not the way international captains go about their business. But, gosh, they would be sorely tempted at times, wouldn’t they?
Steve Smith
Grade: A+
But, no. Of course Morgan meant that if he’d somehow been captain of Australia as a result of, say, some kind of Hollywood body-swapping movie plot device, then, in that wacky, high-concept box office-smashing blockbuster comedy scenario, he would have recalled Stokes.
A strong moral stance from Morgan against a wholly legitimate form of dismissal. He may be Irish by birth, but he’s certainly English in spirit.
Still, if Steve Smith was a more experienced captain, he would have used this as a negotiating point, perhaps suggesting to Morgan that England can keep all ‘obstructing the field’ appeals, on the condition they instead recall all players caught at, say, first slip.
Sloppy work from Smith to miss that opportunity, but he’ll learn from that mistake.
Even previous captain Michael Clarke could learn from this incident. In fact, the more I think about it, the more furious I am at Clarke for not calling Stokes back when he was run out at Lord’s trying to avoid a ball being thrown at the stumps. That was also pure instinct to jump out of the way before grounding his bat.
Poor Ben Stokes. Damned if he tries to avoid the ball while being run out. Damned if he doesn’t.
The rest of the ODI
Grade: F
Dave Warner broke his thumb, opening the door for Glenn Maxwell and Shane Watson to open in the first Test against Bangladesh. Mitch Marsh hit 64 (31) in an innings eerily reminiscent of his old man. Pat Cummins bowled at speeds in excess of 150kmh and took 4-56. Marcus Stoinis dropped James Taylor in the outfield. Australia won by 64 runs. You know the drill.