The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has reiterated that the growing vilification of bowlers was unfair in dismissals involving non-strikers being run out for backing up too far.

In a statement issued late on Thursday following a meeting of the committee members in Dubai last week, the MCC also called for “calm across the global game following several high-profile incidents in a relatively short space of time”.

“Our stance on this is simple — batters must not steal ground if they do not wish to be given out in this manner. Nor should they be expecting to be given a warning if they do. If all non-strikers only left the popping crease once the ball had been released, there would never be the need for such a dismissal again,” Mike Gatting, the chair of the MCC World Cricket Committee, said.

Committee member Kumar Sangakkara was even more supportive of the bowler. “The bowler is not the villain here. Every batter has a choice; to stay in their ground, or risk being given out if they try to steal ground. If they choose the latter, they are the ones who are breaking the Law,” the former Sri Lanka captain noted.

India bowler Deepti Sharma had to face the brunt of the vilification campaign after she ran out Charlie Dean during an ODI at Lord’s last year.

The others present included former captains Sourav Ganguly and Ramiz Raja.