The MCC, the guardians of the laws of cricket, on Sunday stamped its seal of approval on all-rounder Deepti Sharma's run out of Charlotte Dean at the non-striker's end which saw India win the third women's ODI against England at Lord's.
India managed to pull off a win as Charlotte Dean (47), the last England batter, was adjudged run out in controversial fashion, for backing up. Dean was out of her ground and Deepti simply held the ball to remove the bails, leaving the English team flabbergasted.
Though Deepti's act was perfectly legal, it still divided opinions with some England players expressing their annoyance.
Nothing wrong
But the MCC on Sunday said there was nothing wrong in it.
"Whilst yesterday was indeed an unusual end to an exciting match, it was properly officiated and should not be considered as anything more," the MCC said in a statement.
"MCC's message to non-strikers continues to be to remain in their ground until they have seen the ball leave the bowler's hand. Then dismissals, such as the one seen yesterday, cannot happen." Recently, the ICC while modifying the playing conditions had moved this kind of dismissal from 'unfair play' to 'run out'. The changes would come into effect from October 1.
Onus on the batter
The MCC said this was done to clarify the 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.
"Cricket is a broad church and the spirit by which it is played is no different. As custodians of the Spirit of Cricket, MCC appreciates its application is interpreted differently across the globe.
"Respectful debate is healthy and should continue, as where one person sees the bowler as breaching the Spirit in such examples, another will point at the non-striker gaining an unfair advantage by leaving their ground early." India won the match by 16 runs to hand a fairy-tale ending to legendary fast bowler Jhulan Goswami, befitting her glorious career and also record their first clean sweep on English soil.
