Centurion, Sept. 28: England captain Andrew Strauss kicked off something of a local controversy when he refused to allow his South African counterpart a runner during their 2009 Champions Trophy Group B league game here on Sunday.

Smith, who scored a personal best of 141 in the Proteas’ run chase that fell 22 runs short of England’s imposing 323/8, was hit by cramps after he had reached three figures, but the South African-born Strauss denied a request for a runner.

Had South Africa reached 313 they would have stayed ahead of the game on run-rate, but are now effectively out of the tournament.

"He asked me for a runner because he was cramping. The umpires were not particularly keen to give him one. I felt that at the end of a long game, after a long innings, you’re going to be tired," said Strauss after the game. "Cramping to a certain extent is a preparation thing. To a certain extent, it’s a conditioning thing. I didn’t feel that he merited having a runner at that stage."

Strauss agreed that fielding captains in the past had agreed to such requests, but felt that the issue was something the International Cricket Council would need to go into. "I didn’t feel he was cramping that badly either. He was still able to run. That was my view," said Strauss, who only last Friday had won high praise for recalling Sri Lanka all-rounder Angelo Mathews on a runout appeal after the batsman had been obstructed by seamer Graham Onions.

"You just go with each situation as it comes," he said. "I think the umpires were very uncomfortable with it as well. My personal view is that you shouldn’t get a runner for cramps."

Added Smith later, "I was cramping quite badly and I requested a runner. Andrew spoke with the umpires and turned it down. He felt that if you score a hundred, you’re going to be tired. From my perspective, it felt a touch inconsistent.

"Guys have got runners for cramp in the past, so there needs to be a degree of consistency. From our perspective, it was a crucial period of the game. I was on the field for 95 overs and just felt it was inconsistent, that’s all.

"I’m not going to sit here and say that he should have done this or that. The decision rests with the umpires as well. From my perspective, it’s just about putting it behind me now. The thing I’ve learned from this game is that the world’s round.

"It’s going to come back somewhere in the game, at some period of time in his captaincy. It’ll be interesting to see how he handles it again."