England lose their cool in fiery clash
Buttler cries foul after ‘send-off’ sparks feud and England defeat
ENGLAND were embroiled in ugly scenes as they lost the second one-day international by 34 runs yesterday in Dhaka. Captain Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes reacted furiously to Bangladeshi provocation and both could face disciplinary action from referee Javagal Srinath. Buttler had to be restrained by umpire Aleem Dar when he was given a verbal send-off led by Mohammad Mahmudullah and Stokes accused Tamim Iqbal of shoulder-barging England players during handshakes after the hosts had levelled the series at 1-1. ‘I don’t mind them celebrating but there is no need to run in front of someone’s face and give them a send-off,’ said Buttler.
THIS has been the friendship tour, with Bangladesh grateful to England for making the huge effort to accept the stifling security presence and come here to ensure the cricketing show went on. But yesterday all that changed.
All the goodwill that had built up over the previous 10 days disappeared into the Dhaka gloom when the second one-day international in Mirpur took a decidedly nasty turn and ended with unedifying scenes and recriminations.
And the spark that lit the flames and led to an investigation by match referee Javagal Srinath centred on, of all people, the mildmannered stand- in England captain Jos Buttler.
It was Buttler who angrily confronted Bangladesh’s players and had to be restrained by umpire Aleem Dar after they had given him an animated send- off to celebrate taking his wicket and, in effect, seal a series-levelling victory.
And it was his vice-captain Ben Stokes who was in more trouble when the end-of-game handshakes degenerated into a mass argument between the sides.
The bare facts are that Bangladesh won by 34 runs in the second thrilling and eventful 50- over match, when they successfully defended a below-par 238 for eight to set up a decider in Chittagong on Wednesday.
Yet this game will be remembered as the day that England’s Mr Nice Guy, Buttler, who has stepped in for the absent Eoin Morgan so impressively on and off the field, snapped in the face of Bangladeshi provocation.
Buttler was doing his utmost to rescue England after they had crashed to 26 for four and then 120 for six against seam bowling from Mashrafe Mortaza and Taskin Ahmed that should not have held any fears for them.
But Buttler knew the game was up when he was trapped in front on 57 and given out only on review which prompted a mass Bangladesh celebration that he believed went too far. Cue scenes that did no credit to anyone involved.
‘I was just disappointed in the way they celebrated,’ said Buttler afterwards. ‘ Rightly they are happy to get a wicket but there is no need to run in someone’s face and give me a send-off. But feelings were running high.’
What no- one was prepared to say last night was whether any of the Bangladesh team said anything to so upset Buttler and other England players like Stokes, Jason Roy and David Willey, who were all involved in the clashes. Mahmudullah seemed particularly vocal after Buttler was dismissed.
Was it out of character? ‘You guys always write about what a quietly spoken and soft guy I am but maybe you don’t know me,’ said Buttler. ‘I’m sure you can judge whether I crossed the line.’
There was, however, a degree of contrition from a captain who will today discover whether he will be subject to any disciplinary action from Srinath. ‘I was disappointed with the reaction but I probably wish now I’d just walked off the field,’ said Buttler. ‘It’s much more emotional as captain but I will have to try to stay level-headed.’
Stokes is another who could be in trouble today after the scenes at the end when he clashed mainly with Tamim Iqbal, who appeared to brush past the England players rather than shake their hands.
‘Ben is an emotional guy but he would not have reacted like that if nothing had happened,’ said Buttler, and Stokes took the matter further on Twitter last night when he tweeted: ‘ Congrats to Bangladesh on the win tonight, outplayed us, what I won’t stand for is someone putting a shoulder to my team-mate at handshakes.’
Buttler had one big supporter in Sportsmail’s Nasser Hussain, who defended him on Sky. ‘He probably pushed the limits and he probably went over the top,’ said Hussain of Buttler. ‘ But I’d rather have a captain like that who cared and gave it absolutely everything. He has been quite brilliant out here and in the heat of battle these things happen.
‘It’s all well and good sitting up in an air-conditioned commentary box and staying calm but Buttler has been out there in 38 degree heat with 90 per cent humidity. He’s kept all day, he’s batting and trying to win a game for his country and someone has given him a send-off. I’ve never seen that from Jos and it’s nice to know he’s got another side to him.’
When the dust settles England will know they threw away the chance to wrap up this series with a game to play with careless batting after their attack had excelled, until late hitting from Mashrafe.
Buttler, when asked if there would be tension in the decider, said: ‘Potentially. We have some feisty guys and we want to win. There’s a line we musn’t cross but I want us to be positive and attack to try to win the game.’
It promises to be a lively night.