There was a moment of controversy in Yorkshire’s T20 Blast game against Lancashire, with the Vikings choosing not to run out Lightning’s Steven Croft at a pivotal point in the contest after the batsman collapsed in pain while attempting a quick signal.

The incident occurred on the first ball of the 18th over. Lancashire needed 15 from 18 balls with five wickets in hand when Luke Wells hit Matthew Waite to mid-off and set off for a quick single. Croft responded, but seemed to hesitate part way through before slipping and clutching his leg in pain.

“Hang on, we’ve got a problem here,” said Mark Butcher on Sky Sports commentary. “I think Croft has gone down with cramp, hasn’t managed to complete the run, Yorkshire could have run him out, and I don’t think they have. If he’s torn his hamstring or if it’s cramp or not, Yorkshire would be well within their rights to remove the bails here, it has to be said. He hesitates and slips. That’s why I think you’d be well within your rights to run him out.”

What would you have done?

Croft goes down injured mid run and @YorkshireCCC decide not to run him out#Blast21 pic.twitter.com/v1JHVGLn1T

— Vitality Blast (@VitalityBlast) July 17, 2021

Yorkshire, captained by Joe Root, won praise for their magnanimous gesture, but it cost them in the game, with Croft recovering quickly from what did turn out to be cramp. He ended up unbeaten on 26 as Lancashire claimed victory with an over to spare, confirming their progress to the quarter-finals of the T20 Blast.

While Yorkshire had already guaranteed themselves a place in the knockouts, given the often heated Roses rivalry, they would have been desperate to secure victory. After the game, Butcher, a former England batsman and regular on the Wisden Cricket Weekly podcast, engaged in a heated debate with Rob Key, another England batsman turned Sky pundit.

Butcher noted that Croft seemingly slipped before sustaining cramp, and so would arguably have not reached his ground even were it not for the injury.

“I can’t believe what I’ve just seen here, frankly, as a professional sportsman,” said Butcher. “I’m baffled by that, I really am. Croft changed his mind halfway through the run and put the anchors on. And because of that, whether or not he’s got full spikes on, he slipped. Now, it’s not up to Yorkshire to decide if there’s a problem, if he’s broken his leg or his leg’s fallen off, and not run him out. Run him out and deal with it afterwards. Now as it turned out, Steven Croft has got up, he said in his interview, he’s got cramp. That’s not Yorkshire’s problem to worry about. He then goes on to win them the game, get them home. Yorkshire might have won the match. That might have had a bearing on what happens in terms of who qualifies. I found the whole thing completely bizarre.”

While acknowledging that the incident left “a sour taste in people’s mouths”, Key pointed out that Yorkshire couldn’t have known the seriousness of Croft’s injury in the moment, and compared it to football, where teams often choose to kick the ball out of play to allow an opposition player to receive treatment. He also said that the umpires couldn’t have struck off the dismissal if Croft’s injury had turned out to be a serious one, although it’s worth noting that Yorkshire would have had the option to withdraw their appeal.

🔔 DING, DING, DING! 🔔

🥊 BUTCHER 🆚 KEY 🥊

This non run-out is rumbling on with @markbutcher72 & @robkey612 at odds over whether Yorkshire should have dismissed Steven Croft…

What do you think, Twitterverse? 🤔#LANvYOR scorecard 👉 https://t.co/8bHHsp0kMT pic.twitter.com/nMzbRp6SAX

— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) July 17, 2021

“I thought when he went down, you didn’t know first of all if he had cramp,” said Key. “You see him rolling around on the ground, and he can’t continue, so he can’t even try and get back in. It’s one of those things, people will agree or disagree with it, and they’ll have their point of view. It’s the same reason why, when someone goes down in football, they kick the ball out. They stop play to make sure that person’s alright, and as it happens he had cramp and then he ran on, so that leaves a sour taste in people’s mouths. At that point, they didn’t know that, and if he had to be carried off, if you do take the bails off, he’s out, the umpires then can’t call him back.”

Butcher countered Key’s football point, and wondered if the incident could allow for crafty players to feign injury to avoid being dismissed. “The next time I see a centre forward through on goal one on one with the keeper, and he kicks the ball out because someone up the field has gone over for cramp, then that will be the day that I die I think,” he said. “Croft has said he’s got cramp, and he’s not cheating here. All I’m saying to you is this: If that’s all you need to do in order to stop yourself from being run out, then you can see people rolling around.”

After more back and forth, Key came up with a method to settle the debate. “I tell you what, let’s let Twitter decide. Twitter will sort it out. That beacon of what the right thing to do is, social media will sort it out.”

However, as you might expect, opinion there was even more polarised than on the Emirates Old Trafford outfield.

#SpiritofCricket defined. https://t.co/O4IIWKaHlX

— Nikhil 🏏 (@CricCrazyNIKS) July 17, 2021

Fwiw, I wouldn’t have run him out which may explain why I am junior sports hack and not an elite sportsperson. (Well that and lack of ability )

— Elizabeth Ammon (@legsidelizzy) July 18, 2021

Back in 1987 during a 49 over match I collapsed in the middle of the pitch with a ruptured calf muscle… Yorkshire ran me out and in my opinion did the right thing!

— Alan Butcher (@abutch58) July 18, 2021

With Butch….

— Matt Prior (@MattPrior13) July 18, 2021

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