Moeen Ali played down the controversy over his fourth day dismissal in the first Ashes Test and said: “If I was bowling, I’d want it out.”
The Worcestershire all-rounder had attacked with good effect after lunch in reaching 40 with six boundaries to give England hope of setting Australia a sizeable target.
But on 155-5, the 30-year-old was given out stumped by Aussie keeper Tim Paine off Worcestershire 2017 overseas player Nathan Lyon.
It was a close call as third umpire Chris Gaffaney adjudged Moeen’s toe was on the crease line but crucially NOT behind it.
Opinions have been split between TV and radio pundits over the ruling but Moeen said: “If I was bowling, I’d want it out. The replay did look very tight.
“It’s what happens. You’ve got to respect the umpire’s call, try and move on.”
England were eventually bowled out for 195 – losing their last four wickets for 10 runs – to set Australia a 170 target and they reached 114-0 by the close with Moeen bowling four overs for 23 overs.
Moeen said: “I thought the first three days, we played well, we were right in the game. Today we let ourselves down – with the bat, especially.
“We got in and never got the big score that we needed. That’s cost us. The wicket was still good. It was a good pitch to bat on.
“To have any chance of Australia not winning here, guys had to get hundreds. The good thing is that the batters are quite hungry to score.
“It’s always difficult to take positives, but that is a positive. The new guys batted quite well.”
Moeen admitted the unbeaten 141 from former Worcestershire T20 player and Aussie captain Steve Smith was the difference between the sides.
He said: “Without him, they would have struggled to get anywhere near 300.”
Lyon showed the quality that demonstrated why Worcestershire brought him in as an overseas replacement for John Hastings in mid summer.
He quickly sent back Mark Stoneman and Dawid Malan – both caught at slip by Smith – after England resumed on 33-2.
The latter provided him with his 50th wicket in just eight Tests this year – the first Australian spinner to achieve that feat since Shane Warne in 2005.
He finished with 3-67 from 24 overs and was a constant threat.
