KEY POINTS:
In Chester, apparently, it is within the law to kill a Welshman with a longbow inside the city walls.
It doesn't happen though, as the English recognise it is not in the spirit of things to have pictures of dead Welshmen, arrows protruding, beamed around the world.
Which is the same common sense New Zealand should have applied yesterday when they ran Muttiah Muralitharan out as he left his ground to congratulate Kumar Sangakkara on reaching 100.
He was out - the laws said so - but the New Zealand camp should be asking themselves why they felt the urge to apply the law.
Muralitharan and Zimbabwe's Chris Mpofu's's careers will never be compared but they now share one thing: They were victims of unnecessary deceit.
Instead of standing to applaud Sangakara's outstanding 100 we were left with the bitter taste of Brendon McCullum gleefully removing the bails as Muralitharan went to congratulate the centurion - just as had happened 12 months earlier in Zimbabwe when Zimbabwe's Blessing Mawhire scored 50 and Mpofu displayed similar disingenuousness.
There was not a person within the confines of at Jade Stadium, McCullum included, who can honestly claim they thought Muralitharan was attempting to crib a second run.
He wanted to celebrate with his mate. It was a silly thing to do, but understandable. Sangakkara deserved his moment in the sun but he was denied that opportunity.
But McCullum shouldn't be held responsible alone. There was time for Stephen Fleming to realise it wasn't within the spirit of the game and recall the batsman.
A quick word from Simon Taufel a most respected umpire, along the lines of "Stephen, the rules dictate we have to give that out but do you really want to go down this route?", could have changed the event.
The dismissal brought a lunch break. It would have been good to see sense prevail and for Sangakkara and Muralitharan to resume after the break. Fat chance.
It would also have been nice to think the cynical end to the innings was discussed earnestly in the changing sheds but it is also highly unlikely. Fleming has shown himself as a calculating applier of the laws, rather than an idealist.
Instead it will now be left for the cricketing public to discuss and debate and to act as the conscience the New Zealand camp clearly doesn't possess.
The apologists will point to the rules, none of which was broken, to bolster their argument Muralitharan was the victim of his own lack of cricketing nous, but it is a hollow argument - just as New Zealand's ninth test win over Sri Lanka now stands as a hollow victory.
On this same ground 28 years ago New Zealand indulged in another piece of larceny. England batsman Derek Randall found himself Mankaded by Ewen Chatfield when he ran in and, rather than deliver the ball, whipped off the bails as Randall backed up out of his crease. Chatfield was rightly pilloried.
But New Zealand's track record isn't all black. At Eden Park in 1952 West Indian opener Allan Rae fell while attempting a single. Tony MacGibbon rifled the ball in to Alec Moir who turned and let Rae make his ground. Rae went on to score 99.
Yesterday it would have been nice to see a little less Chatfield and a bit more Moir.
