WE WON’T BACK DOWN, SAYS BAYLISS
TREVOR BAYLISS yesterday insisted that England ‘won’t back down’ despite the unsavoury scenes that marred the second one-day international and led to a reprimand for Jos Buttler The stand-in England captain escaped with a rap on the knuckles from referee Javagal Srinath for reacting to the goading of Bangladesh players that saw their captain Mashrafe Mortaza and batsman Sabbir Rahman fined. ‘I haven’t read the referee’s report but their players were fined while Jos was warned and that in itself tells a story,’ said coach Bayliss after England arrived here in Chittagong ahead of tomorrow’s deciding third game. ‘I think Jos wearing his captain’s hat was not going to take it lying down and he has every right to back up his players but it’s just a case now of watching what he says and how he reacts.’ Referee Srinath fined Mashrafe and Rahman 20 per cent of their match fees but there was no action over the clashes at the end of Bangladesh’s series- levelling victory that centred around Ben Stokes. Stokes reacted angrily when Tamim Iqbal appeared to barge Jonny Bairstow during the handshakes and England’s vice-captain also backed up Jason Roy when something was said to the opener that clearly enraged him. England were fuming at what they saw as blatant provocation from their hosts but both sides were keen to put the badtempered affair behind them yesterday and there was little sign of tension when they travelled together from Dhaka to Chittagong with the now familiar ring of steel surrounding them. ‘There was some comment made after the game,’ said Bayliss. ‘Stokesy to his credit was the one trying to get clarification on what was said. He was standing up for his team-mates. ‘It was all sorted out after the game and everyone is now moving on,’ said the Australian. ‘In these types of conditions and in competition at the top level sometimes tempers can be a little frayed but once everyone settles and gets on with the job then everything is fine.’ Whether everything will be fine when the teams meet again tomorrow remains to be seen and there seems little doubt that there will be extra spice when England attempt to pull off a significant series win. ‘We have to be careful that we keep our minds on what we’re doing,’ added Bayliss. ‘It’s a deciding game but I don’t think the incidents of the other night will have an effect on this one. ‘They are professional players and they’ve all been through it before. If anyone gets caught up in it all it will give an advantage to the other team.’