KEY POINTS:
Cricket, more than any other game, sets great store in sportsmanship. Not for nothing did the phrase "it's not cricket" become part of common parlance. What it suggests is that playing the game involves more than a knowledge of the rule book. Consequently, questions were asked in 1978 when New Zealand bowler Ewen Chatfield ran out England batsman Derek Randall for backing up too far. In Chatfield's defence, it could be said the Englishman was trying to gain an unfair advantage. Sadly, neither that nor any other excuse can be used for New Zealand's dismissal of Muttiah Muralitharan at Jade Stadium at the weekend.
Muralitharan was run out after he left his crease to congratulate Kumar Sanagkkara for scoring what, in the context of a low-scoring test, was a quite extraordinary century. There was no thought that he was embarking on a second run; none of the New Zealand players has suggested this. Yet that could have been the only justification for dismissing Muralitharan at this time of Sri Lankan celebration. Every Black Cap player knew what was in Muralitharan's mind but they chose to apply the rule book, not the spirit of the game, because the ball had not been declared dead.
Various excuses have been offered for their conduct. One is that it illustrates a new killer instinct, one of which New Zealanders should be proud. If so, this country can no longer condemn Australia for bowling an underarm ball to New Zealand's Brian McKechnie at the conclusion of a one-day match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1981. That, also, was within the rules. Australians have not been slow to point this out, concluding gleefully that New Zealand have lost the moral high ground.
Equally, Australians have always recognised the underarm delivery was dodgy behaviour that flew in the face of the spirit of the game. They are still embarrassed about it 25 years on. Playing with a killer instinct need not go hand in glove with the flouting of the spirit of the game.
It has also been suggested umpires should be given discretion to decide that, in such circumstances, a player should be ruled not out. That would have its benefits but would deny the fact that this is all about player conduct. It is about making snap decisions based upon sportsmanship, a reasonable supposition, even if New Zealand Cricket chief executive Martin Snedden seems to equate it to mastering rocket science. Even after Brendon McCullum had erred by taking off the bails, New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming could have called Muralitharan back. He chose not to.
In contrast, Sri Lanka say they observed the spirit of the game during this year's Champions Trophy when Black Cap batsman Nathan Astle wandered down the pitch to do some "gardening". Pointedly, there have been no denials of this from the New Zealand camp. Nor were there any protests after the incident that the Sri Lankans were out of step with the modern professional environment.
Unfortunately, New Zealand were involved in a similar incident at Bulawayo in 2005 when Zimbabwe's Chris Mpofu was run out as he went down the pitch to celebrate Blessing Mawhire's maiden test half-century. There was little reaction to that, probably because it occurred at one of the game's outposts. This time, the New Zealanders should acknowledge the error of their ways. Sri Lanka's captain Mahela Jayawardene summed it up well: "Hopefully, it won't happen again. It's not the way to play cricket."
