Table of Contents
The victory in the third T20I at Newlands completed a 3-0 series clean sweep for England over hosts South Africa. The triumph in Tuesday’s game also guided England to the top of the ICC T20I rankings.
For the visitors, Dawid Malan and Jos Buttler, both shined with the willow. While Malan smashed unbeaten 99, Buttler scored 67 not out to help England chase down a humungous target of 192 runs.
Apart from the fantastic show from Malan and Buttler, there was another interesting moment which caught everyone’s attention in the game.
It all happened when England’s analyst Nathan Leamon was spotted sending a piece of coded information to skipper Eoin Morgan from the dressing room. A series of letters and numbers were hung from the balcony of the touring side.
England’s vice-captain Buttler said that it’s an attempt to let the skipper know about the situation in the contest. He even regarded Morgan as one of the best leaders in the world.
“It’s a little help, a suggestion and what match-ups are going on. Eoin and Nathan work closely on analysis. It’s just a little bit of an experiment. Eoin is one of the best captains in the world, a fantastic, instinctive captain, and there’s a nice balance going on,” said Buttler as quoted by BBC.
Not commands but suggestions: England on signals
England termed the codes as a ‘live informational resource’. An England spokesperson said that it depends on the captain as he may choose to use the information or ignore it.
“The numbers and letters are intended as a live informational resource that the captain may choose to use or ignore as he wishes. They’re not commands or instructions, and all decision-making takes place on the field,” said an English spokesperson.
Although the former England captain Michael Vaughan was not impressed with the new tactic. He took to Twitter and expressed his thoughts.
“Signals sent from an analyst on a balcony to the captain on the pitch !!!! The world has officially gone nuts !!! #SAvENG #OnOn” Vaughan wrote on the micro-blogging website.
Signals sent from an analyst on a balcony to the captain on the pitch !!!! The world has officially gone nuts !!! #SAvENG #OnOn
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) December 1, 2020