A left gastrocnemius strain was sustained by an elite cricket batsman while he was taking off to run. The exact moment of injury, captured by a camera in the middle stump, appears to correspond to the sudden appearance of a deficit in the gastrocnemius muscle, seen through the player's trousers. The strain occurred when the entire body weight was on the left foot with the centre of mass well in front of the leg. The injury probably occurred close to the time when the gastrocnemius complex was moving from an eccentric to an isometric phase.