'Well, yeah, I did': Matthew Wade accepts blame for obstructing play during Australia-England T20I

Australia and England locked horns in a three-match T20I series, in Australia, last week. It was an important bilateral series with the main draw of the T20 World Cup set to kick off on October 22. In the series opener, Jos Buttler-led England won by eight runs and achieved a win in the following game, courtesy of an identical margin, to take the series 2-0 before the final encounter was abandoned due to rain.

In the first T20I, in Perth, Buttler's 68 and Alex Hales' 84 propelled England to 208 for 6. In reply, David Warner's 44-ball 73 went in vain as the hosts managed 200 for 9. During the run-chase, a controversy emerged out in the 17th over, bowled by pacer Mark Wood. Matthew Wade was batting alongside Warner and got a top-edge off Woods' delivery and was found blocking the speedster's way from completing a return catch. As a result, the English side was miffed with Wade's antics.

With many slamming Wade, the veteran keeper-batter has finally reacted to all the criticism and accepted his mistake. "That looked horrible when I saw it after the game. It was one of those things that just happened so fast. I think Kane Richardson said to me when I got off the ground, 'You pushed him, basically'. I was like, 'No, I didn't'. And then I saw the replay and I was like, 'Well, yeah, I did'," Wade was quoted as saying to cricket.com.au's The Unplayable Podcast.

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"(Wood bowling at) 150 (kph), decent crowd – at first I didn't know if I hit it. It hit me in the head hard, it rung my bell a little bit, (I) went to run down the wicket, Davey (Warner) sent me back, I turned and saw point running in," he mentioned.

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"Then I wasn't sure if I was going to get run out or where the actual ball was. It all just happened literally like that. And then the next minute, I was on the ground, looked up and the ball was like coming down," Wade added.

At the post-match presentation, Buttler had made heads turn by saying, "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." On being asked if he wouldlookat such an incident in a different manner during theWorld Cup, he said, 'Maybe, yeah.'

Both England and Australia are set to lock horns in the T20 WC with the two heavyweights part of Pool A, along with New Zealand and Afghanistan. The other group comprises India, Pakistan, South Africa and Bangladesh whereas two more teams will join both groupspost the qualifiers.