Australia captain Tim Paine talked about the incident involving Matthew Wade and England captain Joe Root during Day 3 of the fifth Ashes Test at The Oval on Saturday. Paine said the players were just talking to each other and nothing more than that. Matthew Wade was seen in a chat with Joe Root as soon as he came to the crease to bat with England 1 down for 54 runs in the 17th over of their second innings.
“The incident – Joe Root and Matthew Wade were talking to each other – there was nothing in it at all. I think we’ve been fantastic, I think both sides have played this series in good spirit. It’s competitive Test cricket and people are going to talk to each other,” he said.
“I don’t know why it’s such an issue – it’s fine. They are grown men having a conversation, no-one is swearing, no-one is abusing anyone. It’s Test match cricket, and I don’t understand why so much is made of something so little, particularly given the standard of cricket being played. I think there’s so much more to talk about,” Paine said at the press conference after the day’s play,” he told.
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Stump microphones also picked up some of the conversations between England all-rounder Ben Stokes and the Aussies, with someone even mentioning “yeah, Bristol!”, a reference to the infamous incident that took place at a Bristol nightclub in 2017. Stokes was later heard calling David Warner a f*****g prick when the players were walking off the field, as said by UK journalist Isabelle Westbury.
Lots of aggro on the field during that morning session and Stokes in particular not happy.
As he walked off he called David Warner "a fucking prick".#Ashes 👀
— Isabelle Westbury (@izzywestbury) September 14, 2019
However, England have been doing well so far in the Tests. Opener Joe Denly’s 94 put England in control and they moved on to 313 for 8 to lead Australia by 382 runs at the close. Denly missed his maiden Test century and Stokes made 67 in at The Oval to put England in a strong position to level the Ashes series at 2-2.
“It’s two very competitive teams playing in a pretty big series, and I think Matthew Wade is a very competitive player just trying to do his best for Australia. Of course there’s always going to be a bit of niggle out there, but nothing too over the line or anything like that. Just a bit of friendly banter,” Denly added.
