Australia
opener David Warner said run-out at non-striker’s end remains a “spirit of
cricket issue”. Warner’s remarks came after the Marylebone Cricket Club
(MCC) amended the law and stated the bowler has all the right to ‘Mankad’ the
batter for backing up too far. Warner said batters are the ones solely at
“fault” if such a dismissal is effected.
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“I
still think the history of the game suggests it’s a spirit of cricket thing…
You don’t expect players to do that,” Warner was quoted as saying by
‘news.com.au’ ahead of the second Test against Pakistan beginning in Karachi on
Saturday.
“I
do agree with the fact that if you are backing up, and you’re out of your
crease by a long way (you are fair game).
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“I
think it happened more predominantly at the end of a white-ball 50-over games,
or obviously in T20 cricket we’ve seen it but at the end of the day, as a
batsman, you’ve got to stay in your crease,” he added.
Warner
said batters have only themselves to blame if they end up being dismissed in
such a manner.
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“There’s
no doubt about that, and if you’re silly enough to get caught out like that and
run out, that’s your own fault. You’re told not to leave before the bowler lets
the ball go, so just don’t do it,” Warner said.
The
Mankading dismissal first came to be known when the legendary former India
allrounder Vinoo Mankad twice ran out Australia opener Bill Brown at the
non-striker’s end — once in a tour game against an Australia XI at the SCG in
1947, and then again in the second Test of the ensuing series.
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The
Australian media dubbed it as ‘Mankading’, a name which stuck in popular
parlance but was vehemently opposed by legends like Sunil Gavaskar for being
“disrespectful” towards Mankad.
Slow
down the game
Warner
does not believe the switch from “unfair” to “legitimate”
will cause bowlers to pursue such a dismissal more often as it would only slow
down the game.
“I
think what’s important for the game of cricket is that bowlers don’t be looking
for that, because then you’re going to slow the game down even more,” he
said.
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“I
know from before, being a captain, it can be frustrating and you’re taking time
out of the game.
“So
there’s some areas there that need to be addressed, but that’s on an individual
basis,” he added.