ICC cricket committee not against Mankading

Umpire Michael Gough rules Jos Buttler out after checking with Angelo Matthews (not in picture)

The ICC cricket committee has recommended that the non-strikers should be warned about the consequences of leaving their crease early, making themselves eligible of being ‘mankaded’. The committee has expressed its opinion after the first occurance of ‘Mankading’ after nearly 22 years when Jos Buttler of England was run-out by Sachithra Senanayake during the final ODI match at Edgbaston.

They also mentioned that there is no need for the umpire to confirm with the fielding captain if the team wants to uphold the appeal in such cases.

"The cricket committee believes that a non-striker should be deterred from leaving his or her crease before the time the bowler normally delivers the ball," the committee's statement said.

Before Senanayake claimed the run-out in the 44th over of the England innings, he gave a warning to both the batsmen at the crease for starting off before the ball was delivered in his previous over. The statement also threw light on the fact that there is no rule asking the bowler to give an official warning to the batsmen for backing up early.

The statement further read: "It did not support a formal warning being introduced prior to a bowler being eligible to run out a non-striker, but it did support the view expressed by some captains that the umpires shouldn't ask the captain whether he wanted the appeal to stand before making a final decision. The law strikes a sensible balance between preventing a batsman from gaining an advantage, whilst at the same time preventing the bowler from unfairly seducing the batsman into leaving his crease by faking to deliver and then holding on to the ball."

It should be noted that the ICC cleary stated that ‘mankading’ is not againt spirit of cricket after Alastair Cook and other England players accused the Sri Lankan team for their decision to continue with their appeal.