The long-drawn-out debate over running out the non-striker resurfaced once again when Deepti Sharma dismissed Dean backing up during the third ODI last month. Dean was visibly upset as India clinched a historic 3-0 ODI series against England. The incident left the cricketing world talking, with some lauding the India team for their game awareness, while others claimed it lacked any skill and was against the spirit of the game.

Anderson too had taken to Twitter to express his view of the runout, saying that Deepti had no intention of bowling the ball and that he “will never understand why players feel the need to do this.”

Spot on. No intention of bowling the ball 🤬

— James Anderson (@jimmy9) September 24, 2022

Will never understand why players feel the need to do this. Is she stealing ground? pic.twitter.com/KJi1Rgzmdi

— James Anderson (@jimmy9) September 24, 2022

Speaking more on the matter at the Tailenders podcast, Anderson said, “Within 30 seconds of thinking about it [the mode of dismissal], I was fuming. It infuriates me because I’ve been brought up in teams where we wouldn’t even consider doing something like that. And yes, it’s in the laws of the game, and they’ve changed it and it’s a run-out now. But whether it is Burnley under-11s or an England team… No. I hope people are just going to stay in their crease now. Just don’t give people the option to do it.”

He went on to sympathise with Dean, who had rescued England from 65-7 in a run chase of 170, scoring 47 off 80 balls. The hosts needed 17 more runs in 6.4 overs with one wicket left, before Deepti dismantled the bails after spotting Dean leave her crease.

“I feel so much for Charlie Dean because she got into a situation where she was potentially going to win the game that was going down to the wire. She was just drifting a little bit, and that’s a natural thing for a batter to do, to sort of walk with the bowler. She was in her crease as the back foot landed and she just drifted off, waiting for the ball to appear, and she [Deepti] obviously didn’t bowl the ball. The issue for me is that she [Deepti] was never thinking about bowling that ball. She was watching Charlie Dean the whole way, and as she went out of the crease, she stopped and then… That frustrates me.”

He also touched upon the much spoken about ‘Spirit of Cricket;, and claimed the India team lacked compassion towards a teary-eyed Dean. “This comes under it [Spirit of Cricket]. I really didn’t like Charlie Dean in tears at the end, – it was a tense situation and she was dealing with it amazingly and this thing happens – and she would have felt anger. She was in tears, and the handshake from the Indian team at the end – there wasn’t any compassion there at all, they didn’t even look her in the eye. [On being asked if the Indians felt guilt] Don’t do it then. They had the option, the captain had the option of saying no. [But] The captain was happy with it.”

Anderson went on to say that even though he loves innovation and creativity in the game, he does not see running out the non-striker as a legitimate mode of dismissal and that it was “sneaky”.

“I don’t see it as a legitimate dismissal when I play cricket. I love seeing innovation and creativity in cricket, that’s what the shorter formats are for, and now that’s spread to Test cricket, where we see reverse sweeps and beamers and slower balls from bowlers, but where’s the skill in that [the run out]? It’s just snide. It’s a sneaky way. It doesn’t sit well with me at all.”

The 40-year-old instead insisted that the batting team should be penalised and deducted runs if they are seen backing up early. “I don’t think batters should be able to get down the pitch before you bowl the ball. I don’t think it should be a dismissal, it should be a warning – maybe a penalty of five runs will be a better solution to it, same as a bowler when you run on the pitch, you get two friendly warnings, two official warnings then you get taken out of the attack if you keep running on the danger area. I don’t like it being a dismissal. It makes me feel icky.”