It's just not cricket…or is it?

The furore surrounding Jos Buttler's dismissal at Edgbaston seems at odds with the facts. The rules are clear: if you are out of your crease whilst the ball is "live" and the bowler has not commenced his delivery, you can be run out. Etiquette demands that you are warned that this will happen if you continue to drift up the pitch before the ball has been bowled, and we are told that Buttler was warned more than once. Angelo Mathews, as captain of the fielding team has been criticised for not calling Buttler back but, given the above, it is difficult to understand why. All ways up, it looked like a clean and fully deserved dismissal. No question.

And yet this seems a minority view. Many people say that it wasn't within the spirit of the game and that the fact that it was within the letter of the law is missing the point. Cricket is a Gentlemens game and Gentlemen don't behave like this. Pinching a yard whilst backing up is a widespread practice and if every bowler behaved like Senanayake then matches wouldn't last for long. No, they say, the right thing would have been to remove the bails but then call Buttler back and allow him to continue his innings, presumably suitably chastened.

Are they mad? This is the man who almost destroyed a seemingly unassailable lead on Saturday and nearly won the game for England. A man who had been warned, twice, that he would be run out if he continued to poach ground, and who at the time of the stumping was probably six feet down the wicket. Had the roles been reversed I wonder if an English bowler and his captain would have been so roundly criticised for taking legitimate advantage of a situation that they were presented with and dismissing a batsman who presented possibly their biggest threat?

These are professionals. They know the rules and should play to them. Buttler took a calculated risk and it didn't pay off. He (and his captain), should have the good grace to accept that and make sure that when the Test series starts, England leave goodwill in the Pavilion and play to win according to the rules.