‘Bowler is Not The Villain’: MCC Reiterates Stance That Run Out of Non-striker For Backing up is a Legitimate Dismissal

The dismissal of a non-striker by a bowler for leaving crease before the ball has been delivered has consistently evoked polarising opinions. Current and former players have expressed contrasting opinions whenever such dismissals occur in competitive cricket.

The fact is, it’s a legal dismissal and the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), custodian of the laws governing the game, has once again reiterated that the act shouldn’t evoke derision since it’s the batter’s responsibility to not try and steal ground.

Sri Lanka batting great Kumar Sangakkara, a member of the MCC’s World Cricket Committee (WCC), says the bowler is ‘not the villain’ in such dismissals and it’s the batter stealing the ground who are indeed breaking the law.

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“The bowler is not the villain here. Every batter has a choice; to stay in their ground, or risk being given out if they try to steal ground. If they choose the latter, they are the ones who are breaking the Law,” Sangakkara said on Thursday.

MCC in a statement has called for calm and maintained its stance that the running out of a non-striker for trying to gain advantage by leaving the crease early is within the laws.

“The WCC… (MCC’s World Cricket committee) is now calling for calm across all levels of the game, from the grassroots level of recreational cricket to the elite level, given that the act of running out a non-striker who opts to steal ground is within the laws of the game,” it said.

Last year during an ODI, India allrounder Deepti Sharma ran out Charlie Dean in such manner with the match delicately poised. The Indian team claimed they had noticed Ecclestone leave her crease early on multiple occassion.

Recently, there was a spate of such dismissals including in the Big Bash League when Adam Zampa ran out Tom Rogers for backing up at the non-striker’s end. However, the dismissal was overturned after the bowler was deemed to have gone past the point of delivery release before making the attempt.

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WCC chairman Mike Gatting admits legitimising the dismissal may result in an increase of such incidents at recreational level but adds batters will eventually learn the lesson.

“We have seen suggestions that this method of dismissal will be attempted more and more at recreational level and there is the possibility of matches descending into chaos,” Gatting said. “Whilst attempts may increase in the short term, we would expect batters to learn their responsibilities under the Laws very quickly and drive it out of prominence.”

“Our stance on this is simple – batters must not steal ground if they do not wish to be given out in this manner. Nor should they be expecting to be given a warning if they do. If all non-strikers only left the popping crease once the ball had been released, there would never be the need for such a dismissal again.

“The game is in a place where it should be able to self-regulate on this dismissal but there needs to be a Law in place, as we can’t have a situation whereby batters are able to gain ground without bowlers being able to do anything about it,” he added.

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