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The Aussies are never short of courting controversy and after a bewildering Ashes, which was mostly contested in good spirits, the dam finally broke during the second One Day International between England and Australia at Lords, London.

The incident happened in the 26th over of the second innings with England chasing a competitive 310 to level the five match-series. England captain Eoin Morgan and Ben Stokes were at the crease. In the fourth ball of the over, Stokes drove Mitchell Starc down the ground. However, Starc managed to get his left hand on the ball and immediately threw it back towards the stumps, since Stokes was out of his crease.

Now this is where things get interesting. As Stokes was attempting to get back to the crease, the ball glanced off the batsman's gloves. obstructing what could have been a run-out. Starc and the rest of the Australians appealed. The umpires congregated and referred the appeal to the third umpire and after a lengthy deliberation, Stokes was declared out “obstructing the field”, becoming only the sixth player in international cricket to be dismissed in such a manner and the first English cricketer in ODIs.

The reaction was polarised. Morgan and Stokes were not happy – Morgan remonstrated with Steven Smith, the Australian captain immediately after the dismissal and also once the match got over. Smith on his part seemed firm that there was nothing wrong in Australia’s appeal. Social media soon started debating the matter furiously – as far as English cricket supporters were concerned, they were adamant that Stokes was just trying to get out of the way of the ball and accidentally got his gloves in the way. On the other hand, Australian cricket supporters argued that Stokes had no business getting his gloves in the way of the ball, it was a deliberate obstruction of the ball.

The issue with the dismissal is that the replays are not conclusive. Both sides can interpret Stokes action in the way to suit their argument. The terseness continued even after the match with both captains defending their positions. After the excitement of the Ashes, things might just get a little spicy now over the next few ODIs.