Picture Credit: Twitter
Indian cricketing legend Jhulan Goswami's final international game at the third ODI game at Lords came to a controversial end. Indian all-rounder Deepti Sharma ran out Charlotte Dean at the non-striker’s end which bundled the England Women’s team 16-run short of the 170 target.
This finish led to a lot of uproar on the internet as fans, players, ex-cricketers and experts were engaged in debates about whether the run-out at the non-striker’s end goes against the spirit of cricket. But now addressing all the chatter, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) released a statement backing Team India and reminded everyone about the changes brought about to the game.
In a statement released on Sunday, the MCC said: “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.”
“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. 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.
“MCC’s message to non-strikers continues to be to re main in their ground until they have seen the ball leave the bowler’s hand. Then dismissals, such as the one seen yesterday, cannot happen. Whilst yesterday was indeed an unusual end to an exciting match, it was properly officiated and should not be considered as anything more,” it concluded.’
