India’s third ODI against England at Lord’s on Saturday (September 24) hogged the headlines for Deepti Sharma's dismissal of Charlotte Dean.
The India all-rounder ran out Dean in the 44th over for backing up too far at the non-striker's end when England were on 153/9 while chasing the target of 170.
For her antics, Deepti has received support from many while the English cricket fraternity is slamming her citing the ‘Spirit of Cricket’ argument even though this form of dismissal has been legalized by the ICC.
Days after the incident, England men’s white-ball skipper Jos Buttler shared his views on it, saying he would recall any batter who gets run out at the non-striker's end by one of his bowlers, even if it happens in the World Cup final.
“I am calling the batsman back. No one wants to see them in the game because they always create such a talking point when it should be about the battle between bat and ball and watching great games of cricket. They always seem to happen at unsavoury times,” Buttler quoted as saying by times.co.uk.
Meanwhile, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has issued a statement, backing the Indian team and reminding everyone of the changes brought about to the game.
“MCC THIS YEAR ANNOUNCED AMENDMENTS TO THE LAWS OF CRICKET TO MOVE BEING RUN OUT AT THE NON-STRIKER’S END, FROM LAW 41 UNFAIR PLAY, TO LAW 38 RUN OUT,” the custodians of the Laws of Cricket said in an official release.
“This change will formally come into effect from 1 October 2022. This was done to clarify this matter and to place an onus on batters to ensure that they do not leave the crease at the non-striker’s end, prior to a bowler releasing the ball.”
“The Law is clear, as it needs to be for all umpires to be able to easily interpret throughout all levels of the game and at all moments in the game.”
However, Jos Buttler believes the law has a lot of grey areas.
“I understand you have to have the rule there so people can’t just gain an unfair advantage, but I think they should re-word it because the way the law is written gives a lot of grey areas – with the “expected to bowl” part so maybe if they just tightened that up,” he said.
Notably, Buttler has been a victim of such dismissal twice in his professional cricket career so far. He was first dismissed in that fashion in an international match against Sri Lanka in 2014, before getting in the same manner in an IPL game in 2019.
