Buttler run out
View(s):The run out of Buttler at the non-striker’s end by the bowler Senanayake is not only within the law but perfectly justified.
The law states that the batsman at the non-striker’s end may not leave his crease before the bowler is in his delivery stride. Previously, the law stated that he had to be in the crease till the ball left the bowlers hand. The new law therefore permits the batsman more advantage as he can take off before the ball is delivered.
In this case Buttler was clearly taking more advantage than even this extra leeway permitted. He had done so in the previous match and in this instance the bowler warned him at least twice when he was well out of his crease. The bowler also informed the umpire, all of which was clearly visible to us on TV.
Buttler was just ignoring the warnings and was more than a yard illegally out of his crease when he was run out.
It seemed that in view of this continued blatant violation by the batsman, the bowler with some resignation had no option and unhurriedly took the bails off. It was Buttler who was taking unfair advantage which was contrary to the spirit of the game. How many more times did Buttler expect to be warned and why did he have a dismissive air to not play by the rules against Sri Lanka?
One wanders if he would have the same attitude if the opponents were Australia or South Africa.
D.L. Seneviratne
Colombo 3.