BIRMINGHAM: Jos Buttler has accepted he was responsible for being run out in controversial fashion the last time England and Sri Lanka met in a one-day international at Edgbaston.
The final match of the 2014 ODI series between the two countries saw England batsman Buttler run-out at the non-striker's end by bowler Sachithra Senanayake after Sri Lanka twice warned him for moving out of his ground backing up.
Sri Lanka won the match, and with it the series.
Alastair Cook, then England's one-day captain, said at the time he was "pretty disappointed" but the view of many former internationals was that Buttler was at fault.
Even though 'Mankading', the term coined after India's Vinoo Mankad ran out Australia non-striker Bill Brown during the 1947 Sydney Test, remains a legitimate dismissal, some regard it as against the spirit of cricket.
Nevertheless, Buttler said Thursday: "It is obviously batsman error.
"If you walk out of your ground and someone wants to do it, it is in the laws of the game. It is all part of the game," he added at Edgbaston, where England face Sri Lanka in the second of a five-match series on Friday.
"I was disappointed at the time, because it doesn't happen very often. I thought you could do that every ball if you wanted and there would be a chance to run someone out.
"But the bowler would say 'why don't you just stay in your crease?' So I guess I did learn something from it."
Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews, speaking before Tuesday's dramatically tied first ODI at Trent Bridge, insisted he had no regrets about Buttler's dismissal two years ago and would be prepared to uphold a similar appeal again.
"We will play our cricket within the rules," said Mathews.
"If someone is trying to take advantage of the rules then we will probably warn him.
Buttler said Friday he was prepared for such an eventuality.
"We ran a few twos the other day," he said, "so I'm sure they'll be looking out for it."
Wicket-keeper/batsman Buttler (93) and all-rounder Chris Woakes (95 not out) helped England recover from 82 for six in pursuit of a target of 287 on Tuesday.
"It was a bit of a get-out-of-jail," said Buttler.
"We were confident of chasing that target down on that pitch, and we were disappointed we didn't do that -- but from the position we found ourselves in, it was nice to drag one back."
Comments
Comments are closed.