Video: Ben Stokes & George Bailey come close to recreating 'obstructing the field' incident
England will face Australia in the fifth and final ODI at Old Trafford later today to bring an end to a long and eventful tour for the visitors. Having lost the Ashes 3-2 and the one-off T20 against the hosts, Australia seemed geared up for revenge by winning the first two ODIs comfortably, but England has come back strongly in the last two matches and the fate of the series will be decided by today’s match.
England’s resurgence has been astonishing but not surprising considering how the nation as a whole got behind the team over the controversial ‘obstructing the field’ dismissal of Ben Stokes during the 2nd ODI. England seems to have used the general consensus that they were hard done by over the decision as motivation to play ruthless cricket over their bitter rivals.
Much has been talked about the dismissal and there’s no doubt it will continue to remain in the news for quite some time more. In the midst of all the voices supporting Stokes over the incident, George Bailey vehemently backed his skipper Steven Smith in defending the decision of the Australians to appeal and stated that Stokes was indeed out.
So when the pair came face to face during the thrilling fourth ODI between the two teams, the crowd got the drama that they were hoping for, but thankfully in a humorous way. Bailey hit Stokes down the ground and had a little shuffle down the wicket only to find Stokes collect the ball cleanly and aim a shy at the stumps – much like what happened when Starc threw the ball at the stumps which led to Stokes dismissal.
Only this times Stokes didn’t throw the ball, but just took aim at Bailey with a chuckle. The Australian responded in kind with a grin of his own to ensure no new controversy came about.