England will appeal for obstructing the field if it happens again

England might have opted for the diplomatic approach when Matthew Wade obstructed Mark Wood in Sunday night’s T20, but don’t expect them to be so kind should something similar happen again.

Skipper Jos Buttler opted against appealing for obstructing the field when Wade pushed the fast bowler as he tried to take a return catch, determined not to kick off his side’s long stay in Australia for the T20 World Cup on a controversial note. But allrounder Sam Curran said he’d seen the incident since and would be surprised if things played out the same if it happened in a more important World Cup match.

“I did see the replay ... it’s a bit niggly isn’t it?” he told reporters. “When you play a game versus Australia and at a World Cup for instance, your competitive edge will be out there and there’ll be wanting to win at all (costs). In the moment, you’d hope they take it upstairs and the best decision is made because ’Woody’ bowled a nice ball there and he probably deserved a wicket.

“Probably the right thing in the end was what Jos said, we’ll be here for a long time ... it’s a bit of fun, but maybe it’ll be a bit different further down the line.”

Curran, who took two important wickets in England’s win in Perth, said more responsibility should fall on the umpires in those situations and he hoped similar incidents might be referred to the third official immediately in the future.

“As players, you’re watching the ball go up and we’re looking at that rather than maybe the actual movements of the players involved,” he said. “Maybe the easiest way is just go straight to the third umpire, it’s probably tough for the umpires in the field ... they’re probably watching the ball as well. In those big moments, it could be a wicket that wins