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Jos Buttler is a two-time Mankad loser

26th March, 2019
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26th March, 2019
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Social media has gone into meltdown, savaging Ravi Ashwin for Mankading England’s Jos Buttler in an IPL clash. What absolute rubbish.

Buttler was cheating by jumping the gun out of his crease before Ashwin delivered the ball, and was run out – perfectly legal according to Law 41.16:

Non-striker leaving his/her ground early
If the non-striker is out of his/her ground from the moment the ball comes into play to the moment when the bowler would normally have been expected to release the ball, the bowler is permitted to attempt to run him/her out.

Whether the attempt is successful or not, the ball shall not count as one in the over.

If the bowler fails in the attempt to run out the non-striker, the umpire shall call and signal dead-ball as soon as possible.

Crystal clear. Let’s not add more rubbish by saying the dismissal ‘is not in the spirit of the game’.

It’s not in the spirit of the game to jump the gun and cheat either, but that’s lost in the telling.

Nor is it in the spirit of the game for a batsman to know he’s had a faint edge that’s gone through to the keeper and not walk. Then to have the gall to say the umpire is the sole judge of fact, and let him decide when the batsman knows he’s out, and has cheated by staying put.

Or the fielder who dives forward for a catch. They know if the ball has hit the ground first, they hear and feel the thud before the ball is safely in their hands.

That’s when the fielder should instantly indicate to the umpire it was a no-catch. But the cheats leave it to the umpire to make the decision.

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There are no degrees of cheating, it is exactly what the word says and means.

Turn the clock back a year and remember the ballistic comments over Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft for ball-tampering against South Africa, and their subsequent bans.

Smith has an added 12 months to serve before he can captain a representative side again, while Warner is banned for life from leadership positions.

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Many wanted the trio to be banned for life for bringing the game into disrepute, and shaming Australia to the world.

Australian captain Steve Smith gestures with umpires

Australian captain Steve Smith chatting to the umpires. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)

As for Buttler’s cheating? He was dismissed but still spat the dummy.

And he doesn’t seem to learn from his mistakes.

Butler was Mankaded five years ago, for England in an ODI, by Sri Lankan Sachithra Senanayake at Birmingham. Only a goose makes the same mistake twice.

By a strange coincidence, the first recipient of a Mankad in Tests was Australian opening batsman Bill Brown, in 1947 by Vinoo Mankad. The Indian had done exactly the same the month before to Brown, in a game against an Australian XI.

But because the first incident was not a Test, it was not reported to such an extent.

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The second Test Mankad was another Australian opener, Ian Redpath, by West Indian firebrand Charlie Griffith at Adelaide in 1969. The third was Englishman Derek Randall, by Kiwi Ewen Chatfield, at Christchurch in 1978. The most recent was Pakistani Sikander Bakht by Australian fast bowler Alan Hurst at the WACA in 1979.

All the batsmen were cheating and dismissed perfectly legally. It’s in the book.

But the only punishment they copped was an early return to the shed.

Shane Warne and Jos Butler

Shane Warne stuck up for his Rajasthan mate Jos Butler after he was Mankaded by Ravi Ashwin. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images for Rajasthan Royals)

So let’s put Mankading into the correct perspective, with the non-striker remaining in his/her crease until the ball is delivered.

Ravi Ashwin stopped Jos Buttler cheating, but the vast amount of subsequent reporting has Ashwin creating the crime?

Utter bollocks and totally out of context.

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