Last Update on: September 27th, 2023 at 03:47 pm
Steve Smith and his Australia teammates have poked fun at Ben Stokes over his infamous dropped catch during the fifth Ashes Test between England and Australia in July.
On a tense final day, the England Test captain committed a big blunder. Ben Stokes was standing at leg slip when Steve Smith leaned forward to defend Moeen Ali’s delivery. But Smith could only edge the ball and the ball ballooned towards Ben Stokes who made a timely jump to catch the ball.
But as he was bringing his hand down, it hit his right knee and the ball slipped out. According to the rules, it was not out as Ben Stokes was not in control of the ball but his teammates still appealed for a catch only to see umpire Joel Wilson give his decision in the favour of the batsman.
The England players then asked Ben Stokes to send the decision upstairs. The allrounder was visibly reluctant to take a review but eventually succumbed to his teammates’ request. Unsurprisingly, the third umpire also adjudged it not out.
Out or not out? 🤷♂️ #EnglandCricket| #Ashes pic.twitter.com/q2XCJuUpxM
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 31, 2023
Australia players poke fun at Ben Stokes:
Almost two months after the incident, a number of Australian players poked fun at Ben Stokes for his mistake and his decision to review the catch. Steve Smith said that he was surprised to see Ben Stokes going upstairs despite knowing that it was not out.
“When Stokesy tried to catch the ball and threw it onto the deck. Looking at him and watching his body language, he knew that it was not out. It was an interesting choice to go upstairs because I am pretty sure he knew that it was, that he’d thrown the ball away,” Smith told ABC Sport.
Travis Head then recalled that Steve Smith had asked the England captain to grab the ‘spirit of cricket’ moment, saying: “Steve had some choice words at the time which is when you can see him pointing there saying. Yeah, questioning whether that’s the grey area of the spirit of cricket again.”
“I just said here’s your spirit of cricket chance,” Smith said.
Spirit of cricket was one of the biggest talking points in the series following Jonny Bairstow’s contentious dismissal during the second Ashes Test. Ben Stokes’ drop and his subsequent decision to review it gave the Australian cricket fraternity to hit back at England over the spirit of cricket debate.
Watch:
🏏 Ben Stokes caught it — then dropped it — then reviewed it.
We asked the Aussie cricketers what they thought of that moment, and whether it fell under the Spirit of Cricket… 😂
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— ABC SPORT (@abcsport) September 27, 2023
