Jos Buttler decided against appealing for obstruction during England’s win over Australia

Let’s be thankful that Matthew Wade didn’t go on to win Australia’s first Twenty20 international after he got away with a blatant obstruction to prevent Mark Wood from taking his wicket at a crucial stage in what turned out to be a narrow win for England.

Otherwise, relations between England and Australia could have become a bit uneasy in the lead up to a campaign in which both have realistic ambitions to cancel the World Cup.

Either that, or Jos Buttler would have been convicted of a mindset that, depending on your point of view, could be described as extremely sporty towards the old enemy or just plain stupid.

Buttler was given the chance to appeal from the umpires when Wade pushed the onrushing bowler Wood aside after taking a sideways glance to see where he was with the ball hovering above them after a top-edge pull and taking 39 runs of 22 balls.

But in a move that would have shocked many an English captain unaccustomed to offering charity to Australians, Buttler gave a sucker in Wade an equal chance. Fortunately for their captain, England were able to close what turned out to be an eight-run victory.

“I wasn’t sure what had happened,” said Buttler, who, under a friendly exterior, is usually a seriously tough competitor. “They asked me to appeal and I thought, we’ve been here in Australia for a long time. It would be risky to go so early in the journey.’

But if this had been the actual World Cup rather than the first of a three-game international run to warm up both sides for the tournament, surely Buttler’s competitive instincts would have emerged?

‘Could be. And I might have asked a few other guys, but I had my eyes on the ball, so I didn’t really know what I’d be relying on,” he said. “I thought, let’s get on with the game.” Maybe I should have asked a few more guys.’

Fortunately, Sam Curran had to sack Wade in a period of impressive bowling towards the deaths of him, Wood and Reece Topley who gave England a thrilling victory after David Warner appeared to propel Australia past England’s 208 for six.

So an England squad with at least nine of the squad they’re expected to take on here at Perth Stadium on October 22 in their World Cup opener against Afghanistan – awaiting injury updates on Liam Livingstone and Chris Jordan – had a lot to please to be with, albeit against a severely weakened Australia.

Last but not least the performance of Alex Hales beating Phil Salt to open with his returning captain in what Buttler said was a very tough decision and all but confirmed his place in a World Cup he could only have dreamed of to play in before Jonny Bairstow’s bizarre injury.

Hales started off a bit scratchy as Buttler headed for a flyer on his way to 68 from 32 balls but the man was gone for three years due to ‘trust issues’ gained confidence and found his touch along the way in what became the biggest opening of the T20 partnership by anyone on Australian soil.

And by the time he was sacked 16 less than what would have been his second international T20 century, Hales had confirmed the enduring quality at this level to which England eventually had to return after almost banning him to history.

“He’s got it right now for the first time,” Buttler said when asked if Hales had now confirmed his World Cup place. “It was a very difficult decision and we spent a lot of time discussing it because both he and Phil are great options. Only Alex’s record in Australia put him ahead. That’s why he got the wink.’

The only frustration for England is that they didn’t convert that opening score into their all-time T20 score as they should have surpassed their high of 241 for three against New Zealand in Napier at the start of the 12th at 128 with no loss. year ago.

Instead, perhaps a little too funky, they pushed their anchor Dawid Malan back to seven, promoted Ben Stokes to three in his first international T20 appearance for 18 months, sent their all-rounders and then came up at least 30 runs short for where they had have to come.

It didn’t matter in the end, but England will want to be more clinical in Wednesday’s second game against Australia in Canberra. And they may want their captain to be a little less forgiving as serious World Cup business draws closer.