In praise of ... Angelo Mathews

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jun/04/editorial-in-praise-of-angelo-mathews

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True, "in praise" is a bit strong for the Sri Lanka cricket captain's refusal to apologise for the Edgbaston runout. But in defence of him … absolutely. Mr Angelo Mathews defends his bowler who ran out England's Jos Buttler at the non-striker's end. Yet such a dismissal is clearly permitted, and the bowler had twice warned Mr Buttler against leaving his ground too soon. From here it looks like Mr Buttler was trying it on, was warned, and got caught. During an earlier furore about this type of dismissal, a legendary cricketer took a more balanced approach. Such dismissals are against the laws for a reason, he pointed out. In the words of Sir Donald Bradman: "If not, why is the provision there which enables the bowler to run him out? By backing up too far or too early, the non-striker is very obviously gaining an unfair advantage." If it's good enough for the Don, it should be good enough for Alastair Cook. It's England who should apologise.