The bowler has been able to throw at either end to run out either
batsman unfairly backing up / running for as long as I remember - I
started umpiring when the 1947 code was in force!
To throw at the striker's end under these circumstances has always
conceded a "No ball". In the days before the "Unfair and Dangerous" law
came in, you could actually lob the ball (with a legitimate bowling
action) over the batsman's head for the keeper to stump him off what
would then have been called a "Wide" (nowadays, of course, a ball
passing over the striker's head... [blah blah] is a "No Ball"). Now the
bowler is automatically warned for "throwing" rather than "bowling", the
right he has always had under the Laws has to be protected by the "no
warning" clause.
A throw at the non-striker's end is not a "No Ball" but in days gone by
could concede overthrows if the throw missed the stumps. The Powers
That Be considered this was unfair to the fielding side so a failed run
out attempt at the bowler's end *before the ball is legally delivered*
now results in a "Dead Ball" call.
The bowler *cannot* go through his complete delivery swing and follow
through to break the wicket at his end to attempt a run-out. The Laws
state that if the bowler fails to release the ball under these
circumstances the umpire shall call and signal "Dead Ball". This was the
recourse the umpires used to have in this situation before the Laws were
tightened up and the circumstances in which the bowler could run out the
non-striker were set down in black-and-white.
As far as the "warning" goes, I am with those who say it is part of the
spirit in which the game should be played. But, like "walking", it is
not compulsory; and if the non-striker continues to unfairly "back up"
after having been warned, then he gets what he deserves if the bowler
then runs him out. And if the Playing Conditions have actually been
altered to make this easier than under the original Laws, then the
authorities must be happy with this, too.
There is another option available to the bowler - and that is just to
stop in his run-up. If the batsmen continue to run, the umpire has
powers to intervene under the unfair play Law (42) and if the
circumstances warrant the batsmen can be warned. Even if the batsmen
have not gone so far as to be attempting to "steal a run", repeated
instances could give the umpires cause to warn them for time-wasting, in
the same way as was done in the "switch hit" episode when the bowler
stopped every time the batsman changed his stance before delivery.
--
- Yokel -
Yokel posts via a spam-trap account which is not read.