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Banish the Mankad stigma

Roar Rookie
5th June, 2014
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Are Mankading dismissals within the spirit of the game?
Roar Rookie
5th June, 2014
24
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Why are we still having a discussion about the morality of the Mankad?

In the most recent incident, Sri Lankan off-spinner Sachithra Senanayake dismissed Englishman Jos Buttler in the 5th and decisive game at Edgbaston.

Buttler had received two warnings in Senanayake’s previous over for leaving his crease before the Sri Lankan had bowled the ball, yet he still cried foul upon his dismissal.

Despite the Mankad being an entirely lawful dismissal, England captain Alastair Cook lambasted his opposing captain Angelo Matthews’ refusal to recall Buttler by describing it as “a pretty poor act”. But this is what Cook, a batsman, would be expected to say.

Cook argued that Buttler “was half a yard out of his crease”. However, would he be so lax if he was dismissed by a bowler whose foot overstepped by half a yard?

If his opponents argued that a ball bouncing half a yard inside the rope cannot be judged a six, would Cook’s home fans boo them off the ground? Would he happily walk after being given out lbw to a ball that only pitched half a yard outside leg stump?

Increasingly, the batsmen have a significant advantage over the bowlers. Bigger bats, over limits for bowlers and frequent use of video technology on no-balls contribute to an unbalanced duel between batsman and bowler. In Twenty20s, conceding a run every ball has become a decent effort.

At the SCG in 1947, Vinoo Mankad dismissed Australian non-striker Bill Brown following a warning and similar dismissal in a previous non-Test match. Brown was without a helmet or a modern day bat and playing on a pitch left uncovered overnight. It could be argued he was hard done by, given he and his fellow batsmen were disadvantaged against the quicker bowlers.

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Yet in the Sydney Morning Herald the following day, journalist and former NSW player Ginty Lush criticised Brown’s “foolish” actions.

“Mankad can scarcely be called a bad sport for trapping Brown… Brown was foolish to take liberties with Mankad,” he said.

The Mankad dismissal was recognised as the batsman’s error, rather than a bowler taking advantage of an innocent mistake. The batsman bit off more that he could chew and he was rightly punished.

At Lord’s on Sunday, Matthews avoided conflict when he chose to warn, rather than dismiss Buttler for his early leaving of the crease. Buttler went on to score a match-winning century and the series went to a 5th game in Edgbaston.

Buttler went too far as the Edgbaston game reached its climax, and he was punished accordingly. Matthews and Senanayake have been punished unjustly, even though most pundits say it was a fair game.

If batsmen are to be kept in line in an age of fast-paced and flashy cricket, we all need to banish the stigma of the Mankad.

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