Move over underarm bowl, there’s a new controversy in town.
The cricketing world has once again been left divided after the unsportsmanlike ‘mankad’ action was used during the India v England T20 match overnight at Lords. Indian bowler Deepti Sharma won the game for her country by running out non-striker Charlie Dean mid-bowl after the English batswoman had left her crease.
England all-rounder Georgia Elwiss, who was not playing in the match, was not impressed. “Has that not just left the sourest taste in the mouth at the end of this international summer? I’m dumbfounded,” she said on BBC Test Match Special.
“I cannot believe the Indian team felt that was the only way they were going to get a wicket. I don’t think Charlie Dean was trying to gain any sort of advantage. It’s ridiculous.
“For me, Harmanpreet Kaur has got to look at her side and think, ‘is that how we want to win games of cricket?’ Can she not withdraw that appeal?
“It’s taken the shine off Jhulan Goswami’s big send-off. She’s doing the lap of honour but everyone else in the ground is just stunned at how it’s finished.”
But Indian captain Kaur had no issue with what had just unfolded.
“Today whatever we have done I don’t think it was any crime, it is part of the game and it is an ICC rule and I think we just need to back our player,” said Kaur.
“I don’t think (Sharma) has done something wrong and we just need to back her.”
England trailed 2-0 to India but looked to be closing in on victory in the final one-day international of the series – and summer – at Lord’s on Saturday.
Charlie Dean had looked comfortable at the crease and hit a chanceless 47 at number nine as the hosts looked to be closing in on an unlikely victory.
But bowler Deepti Sharma took the bails off after entering her delivery stride.
It is a rare form of dismissal but has been used before, including by Indian bowlers Vinoo Mankad, after whom it has traditionally been known.
There has previously been an unwritten convention to offer the batter a warning, though the relevant law was recently moved by the International Cricket Council from the ‘Unfair play’ section and filed instead under ‘Run out’.
Immediately after the third umpire upheld the decision, Dean threw her bat to the ground in tears as boos rang out from the crowd.
The match should have been a historic moment for India and England as they returned to Lord’s for the first time in five years since they met at the 2017 World Cup final, but it will be remembered for the final controversy.
India had already won the series, having won the first two matches comfortably, but had been pushed onto the back foot as England and Dean worked hard to give themselves a chance of victory before Sharma’s action.
England required 17 to win when the run-out occurred, with Dean leading the way alongside No.11 Freya Davies, chasing India’s total of 169 in a low-scoring contest.
The hosts had previously slumped in their chase from 27 without loss to 6 for 53.
Kate Cross was the pick of the England bowlers, taking 4 for 26, with Smriti Mandhana hitting 50 and Deepti Sharma an unbeaten 68 for India. Despite admitting that she would never take a wicket in that, Cross understands that it’s part of the game.
“I think it’s a dismissal that’s always going to divide opinion. That’s all that’s ever going to get said about it: some people are going to like it, some people aren’t,” said Cross.
“Deepti chose to dismiss Charlie Dean that way. I’m more disappointed for Charlie Dean that she couldn’t get a fifty at Lord’s today because she looked set to do that.
“If we’re looking at the real positives, then maybe that’s the only way they could have got Deano out today.”
The game was Jhulan Goswami’s final India appearance, as she bowed out of international cricket having made her debut back in 2002.
She was out for a golden duck after coming out to a guard of honour, dismissed by Freya Kemp who was not born when she earned her first international cap.
However, she showed her experience and talent with the ball, taking 2 for 30 from her 10 overs.
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It brings to an end Lisa Keightley’s reign as England women’s head coach when India claimed the final wicket of the series with a run-out at the non-striker’s end.
The 51-year-old, from New South Wales, is leaving after informing the ECB she wouldn’t be seeking a contract extension.
Keightley has been in the role since January 2020, taking the team to the semi-final of the 2020 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup and the final of the 2022 ICC Women’s World Cup.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
That’s why no-one ever played it that way until a couple of years ago? But I’d tend to agree that it’s becoming fair game in T20, but still has no place without a warning in first class cricket.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
That’s because the bowler was intent on running her out rather than bowling the ball. If she was doing it all the time as they are saying, fair enough I suppose, though no reason not to give a warning if they were so aware and concerned about it. The problem with Mankading is a lack of proportionality of the sanction and irrelevance to the bat/ball contest. One wicket is a huge deal, compared to which the small advantage in one in a thousand times being a couple of inches down the wicket actually results in an extra run is tiny. Ideally, you’d have something like a TV camera capturing it like a no-ball or a run short - lose a run, plus any runs scored would be forfeit. But that’s too difficult for all levels of cricket. I’m coming round to the review the Mankad is ok for T20 when people are trying to steal runs all the time, and maybe for 50 over, but its ridiculous not to keep the tradition of warning for longer forms.
JGK
Roar Guru
She is young. Inevitably, she would rarely have played such a match with as much on the line like this one. Anyway, it was a tough lesson but I reckon she won't be run out like that again for the rest of her career.
All day Roseville all day
Roar Guru
I find it hard to imagine that a different player with 15-plus years' prior experience of highly-competitive club cricket would back up so far, so often. Might this be an example of a player spending more time in practice sessions and age-based pathways, rather than learning their craft from hard-headed captains, team-mates and opponents ?
JGK
Roar Guru
Yep - puts to bed any complaints about Spirit of the Game.
All day Roseville all day
Roar Guru
That's an amazing sequence.
Ben Pobjie
Expert
There is no deception involved in a Mankad. Every batter knows if they leave their crease before the ball is released they are at risk of being out. Nobody is deceived.
ken gargett
Guest
ben, completely agree. surely it is more 'unsporting' to try and gain an unfair advantage by getting that early start. if it is a deliberate deception with no intention to bowl then that is different. otherwise, a perfectly legitimate dismissal and suggesting otherwise is ridiculous.
JGK
Roar Guru
At least 50 times according to this: https://twitter.com/PeterDellaPenna/status/1574098044278038529
Arnab Bhattacharya
Roar Guru
Dean had been out of her crease many a times throughout her innings. She deserved what had been coming at her
Sedz
Guest
Irony is Stuart Broad calling it as against the spirit of the game ???? It’s like Putin lecturing others on how to be a good neighbor.
JGK
Roar Guru
Yep. At best it was stupid cricket by Dean. They only needed 19 off 40 odd balls. There was no need to be that far out of her crease.
JGK
Roar Guru
Huh? That photo shows Dean almost outing her crease before the bowlers front foot has even landed, let alone the arm rotation needed to actually bowl the ball. Plus as soon as Dean lifts her bat, which is soon after this frame, she’s well over a metre out of her crease.
Simoc
Roar Rookie
Poor England just love cheating. They go ballistic when they get caught out. In this instance the batter is very amateurish and not even looking. There is no reason the batter should get a flying start for a run. Well played India, Pathetic losers , England.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Get riled up all you like, you obviously have a deficient appreciation of how cricket has been played for a couple of hundred years. Both the side-on still photo and the video show the bowler was clearly looking to deceive the batter, avoiding a contest between bat and ball. That’s why the convention has been to give a warning, since forever. https://twitter.com/muhammadasif26_/status/1573771849065955330?s=21&t=rdEt5BF_HoYQdz_e4s__Dw
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Simply not true. Both the side-on still photo and the video show otherwise. She was clearly looking to deceive the batter, avoiding a contest between bat and ball. That’s why the convention has been to give a warning, since forever. https://twitter.com/muhammadasif26_/status/1573771849065955330?s=21&t=rdEt5BF_HoYQdz_e4s__Dw
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Remember underarm bowling? If the overthrow off Stokes’s bat in the WC final hadn’t reached the boundary, he should have taken the runs? Would Stokes have done so? You must think the law banning deception in the field is a bad thing. You seem to prefer the idea that wickets should be taken by deception rather than a contest between bat, ball and fielders.
badmanners
Roar Rookie
"I don’t think Charlie Dean was trying to gain any sort of advantage. " Then why was she so far down the pitch?
JGK
Roar Guru
If Piers Morgan is complaining about it it is almost certainly a good thing. Also, it's been weird seeing tweets from former England test cricketers like Tim Bresnan and Martin Bicknell who clearly don't know the Laws relating to Mankads.
JGK
Roar Guru
No, it's the time at which you would have normally delivered the ball. Dean was out of her crease before Sharma's front leg had even landed. This is as big a no brainer for a Mankad as you can get.