An act of sportsmanship by county side Yorkshire has impressed many cricket fans. The episode took place during a T20 Blast game between Yorkshire and Lancashire at Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester on Saturday.
The incident took place in the 18th over of the game when Lancashire needed 15 runs off 18 deliveries, with five wickets in hand. Lancashire’s Luke Wells guided a delivery bowled by Mathew Waite towards the mid-off region and ran for a quick single.
However, Steven Croft, who was at the non-striker’s hand, looked a bit hesitant for the run and before reaching halfway on the pitch, he suffered a cramp and laid in the middle of the pitch. The Yorkshire had an easy opportunity to run him out, but the Joe Root-led side opted not to complete the run-out, and the umpires declared a dead ball.
Here is the video:
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
Former Indian cricketer VVS Laxman reacted to the incident and lauded Yorkshire for their sportsman spirit, terming Root a ‘wonderful role model.’
“Excellent demonstration of sportsman spirit from @root66. Such a wonderful role model,” Laxman tweeted.
Excellent demonstration of sportsman spirit from @root66 . Such a wonderful role model. https://t.co/WCiBVJjqAL
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) July 18, 2021
Yorkshire skipper Root felt the injury of Croft looked quite serious, but many teams and players would have opted to run him out had they been in a similar situation as everyone has a different opinion.
“As a side, we made a very difficult decision under pressure. (Croft’s injury) looked very serious at first glance. In many ways, it was a relief. It was nothing serious. I am sure there will be many different opinions. Many people would have handled it differently,” Root said as quoted by Cricketcomau.
Brief scores:
Yorkshire 128/7 in 20 overs (Joe Root 32; Luke Wood 4/20) lost to Lancashire 131/6 in 19 overs (Luke Wells 30; Matthew Waite 2/17) by four wickets.
