‘This is Cheating, a terrible excuse’ - Venkatesh Prasad lashes out at Jos Buttler for not appealing against Matthew Wade

Former Indian fast bowler Venkatesh Prasad slammed the England skipper Jos Buttler for refraining from appealing against Matthew Wade for obstructing the field. Wade top-edged a delivery from Mark Wood which went straight up and the left-hander went half way down for a single. Realising there wasn’t a single, Wade turned back and he pushed away and blocked Wood from taking the catch while returning to his crease.  

While the MCC laws states that Wade could be given out for obstructing the field, Buttler chose not to appeal and he had an unexpected reason for it.

“I was looking at the ball the whole time, so I wasn’t sure what happened. They asked if I wanted to appeal, but I thought we are here for a long time in Australia so would be a risky one to go for so early in the trip," Buttler told in the post-match conference about the incident.  

Buttler’s reason did not impress Prasad as the latter recalled the recent instance when Deepti Sharma faced huge criticism from the England cricketers for running out Charlie Dean at the non-striker’s end. Although it was legal under the laws, the spirit of cricket was questioned at that time and Prasad was bewildered with no appeals from Buttler in the Wade incident.  

The sense of entitlement of these guys is unbelievable: Venkatesh Prasad  

Prasad tweeted on the Matthew Wade incident terming England’s move to be ‘cheating’ and was disappointment with the entitlement to the players. He further concluded that the spirit of the game was missing at the juncture and criticised the England side for it.  

“Pathetic, in one word this is Cheating, not in the spirit of the game and obstructing the field and what a terrible excuse from Jos Buttler to not appeal. The sense of entitlement of these guys is unbelievable. Bullshitting about spirit of the game when there is no spirit,” Prasad tweeted on Twitter. 

Pathetic , in one word this is Cheating, not in the spirit of the game and Obstructing the field and what a terrible excuse from Jos Buttler to not appeal. The sense of entitlement of these guys is unbelievable. Bullshitting about spirit of the game when there is no spirit. https://t.co/4WrbX7Qwb3

— Venkatesh Prasad (@venkateshprasad) October 9, 2022