Australia wicketkeeper Matthew Wade, who scored 15-ball 21 in the first T20I against England, could have been dismissed for a duck for obstructing the field at Perth on Sunday (October 9).

During the 17th over of Australia's chase, Wade top-edged a pull off Mark Wood onto his helmet and the ball went straight up in the air.

Wood ran in towards the striker's end to take a catch, but Wade while turning back towards the crease extended his arm and restricted the England pacer from getting to the ball, which eventually landed safely.

While England skipper Jos Buttler had an option to appeal but he didn’t and Matthew Wade was spared.  

After the match, Buttler spoke on Wade’s obstruction incident and said: “I wasn’t sure what happened. They asked if I wanted to appeal, and I thought, ‘We’re here for a long time in Australia. I would be a risky one to go for so early in the trip.”

The incident once again brought up the Spirit of Cricket debate to the fore. This time around, the cricket fraternity questioned England and Jos Buttler for not appealing.

Here are the reactions:

Coming to the match, Australia suffered a narrow 8-run defeat at the hands of England in the T20I series opener.

Riding on half-centuries from Alex Hales (84 off 51 balls) and Jos Buttler (68 off 32 balls), the tourists piled up 208/6 on the board.

In reply, Australia’s innings was restricted to 200/9. David Warner starred with the bat, slamming 73 off 44 balls while Matthew Wade fell in the last over against Sam Curran when the latter was tasked to defend 16 runs.