Kate Cross refused to blame Deepti Sharma’s run-out of Charlie Dean for England’s controversial defeat to India at Lord’s, but insisted she would not have gone through with it herself.
England were 17 runs from victory in Saturday’s Third ODI with just one wicket remaining when Dean, unbeaten on 47, was run-out backing up at the non-striker’s end to secure a 3-0 series whitewash for the tourists.
The controversial mode of dismissal falls within the rules of the sport and MCC laws were updated earlier this year in a bid to normalise its occurrence, but opinion remains divided as to whether it falls in line with the spirit of the game.
However, Cross insisted England had only themselves to blame after starting their chase of a modest 170 with a collapse of 65 for seven.
“Ultimately, it's Deepti's choice how she goes about that, and we've lost that game of cricket,” Cross said. “What we did say in the dressing room was that we didn't lose that game of cricket because of that last wicket.
A controversial ending but...India win by 16 runs and complete a series sweep against England. 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/gsBpqDcXNp
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) September 24, 2022
“I think it was obviously with a lot of the earlier partnerships that weren't able to be extended, and actually Deano, Freya [Kemp] and Amy [Jones] – the way they batted at the end gave us a really good chance of getting to that total.
“It's a dismissal that's always going to divide opinion. That's all that’s ever going to get said about it: some people are going to like it, some people aren't.
“I'm more disappointed for Charlie Dean that she couldn't get a fifty at Lord's today because she looked set to do that. If we're looking at the real positives, then maybe that's the only way they could have got Deano out today.”
Asked whether she would use the dismissal herself in a similar position, Cross replied: “No, I wouldn’t.”
Indian batter Harmanpreet Kaur, however, defender teammate Sharma, insisting she had “not committed a crime” and praising the bowler’s awareness.
“I think in the last T20 also something happened and I don’t know why but that wasn’t brought up,” she said. “Today, whatever we have done, I don’t think it was any crime, it’s part of the game, it’s an ICC rule.
"I’m actually very happy she was aware of that, the batter is taking too long a stride. I don’t think she has done anything wrong and we just need to back her.”
