No time for England to dwell on controversy of Lord’s, says Finn

Rival captains Eoin Morgan and Steve Smith were still relatively in the heat of the moment when they made clear their differences in post-match interviews, after Stokes had become just the second England player ever to fall to the rare mode of dismissal in the history of international cricket.

But Finn had the benefit of a night’s sleep, and several more hours too to aid reason, before he advised England cannot afford to let any lingering perception of injustice put them off their game for the remaining three must-win fixtures in the Royal London Series.

Stokes was fourth out in a failed run-chase on Saturday which left England 2-0 down, and needing to restate their case as a resurgent force in one-day internationals.

A raft of new faces were selected, after last winter’s embarrassing early exit from the World Cup, and they delivered in a thrilling 3-2 series success at home to New Zealand.

England have since been soundly beaten twice in three days by global champions Australia, though – and have lost 11 of their last 12 ODIs against their oldest enemy.

The stakes are therefore high as this series heads north, first stop Emirates Old Trafford tomorrow, and Finn is in no doubt that dwelling on the incident at Lord’s will do the hosts no good at all.

“I think we’d be foolish to let the Stokes dismissal nag away at us,” England’s linchpin white-ball seamer said.

“We have a young side – we have some quite emotional guys in that team.

“If we let that emotion come into our cricket, I don’t think that it will serve us well.”

Stokes was given out after third umpire Joel Wilson concluded, with slow-motion replay at his disposal, that – in thrusting out a hand which intercepted Mitchell Starc’s shy at the stumps to try to run him out, after stopping a straight-drive – he was, in the words of the Laws of Cricket, ‘wilfully attempting to obstruct or distract the fielding side’ rather than taking evasive action.

Either way, Finn insists it is in England’s best interests to let the matter lie.

He said: “If we stick with the mantra of going out there and enjoying it, trying to show off and deliver our skills as best we can with a smile on our face, that will serve us far better than getting fired up and angry – because I don’t think that will bring the best out of us.”

Morgan claimed he would, in Smith’s place, have withdrawn his appeal.

But Finn admits the tourists had every right to ask the question.

“It’s not against the Laws of the game for them to appeal,” he said. “It’s up to the umpires to make the decision.

“We can’t have too many qualms with that – and if we dwell on it, it could affect us.

“Now we need to win the next three games to win the series.

“We need to keep it as simple as that.”

Stokes’s departure was a flashpoint which exercised the traditionally quiet Lord’s crowd, with boos breaking out and lasting most of the rest of the match.

But Finn added: “It’s in the past now. We lost (on Saturday) – Australia played better than us.

“Obviously, it leaves a bit of a sour note – but ultimately Australia played better.

“We have to be better in these next three games.”

On returning to the pavilion, Stokes told his team-mates he had been trying to protect himself – a highly plausible version of events, according to Finn.

“I think everyone in the dressing room, when we saw it in real time, thought he was taking evasive action,” added Finn.

“The ball looked to be travelling towards the stumps.

“The fact that it was in slow motion didn’t help Ben’s cause.

“How often does the bowler feign to throw the ball but doesn’t actually do it?

“But this time he did let the ball go – and by the time you realise the bowler has actually let the ball go and you are trying to get out the way, the first and foremost thing is that you’re worried for your safety rather than worrying about where your stumps are.”

Stokes’s split-second reaction was by definition instinctive.

Finn added: “Ben said he was taking evasive action, and there’s no reason for anybody not to believe him.

“If you watch it real time and you’ve got someone hurling a cricket ball at you from 10 yards, your stumps are the last thing on your mind.”