Table of Contents
It’s a very controversial part of cricket and one that causes endless debate when an incident occurs either in international or first class cricket tso I’m now going to look at the practise of Mankading in much greater detail.
What is Mankading?
Mankading is the practice of running out the non-striking batsman while they are backing up. If they stray out of their crease before the bowler has delivered the ball, they can be legitimately run out under the laws of cricket.
While Mankading is covered by those laws, there are many who think that it doesn’t quite fit in with the spirit of the game.
How did Mankading get its Name?
The term ‘Mankading’ was derived from the Indian cricketer Vinoo Mankad. Incidents of running out the non-striker may well have already occured but Vinoo Mankad perfected this twice on India’s tour of Australia in 1947/48.
On both occasions, Australia’s Bill Brown was the unfortunate batsmen. The Australian press criticised the bowler’s actions and, even in those early days, the spirit of the game was called into question.
The press coined the phrase ‘Mankading’ and it has stuck ever since.
How to Pronounce Mankading
There are audio guides to help with the pronunciation of Mankading and the very best of them can be found here. It’s in three syllables with ‘man’ pronounced as it would be if the word were used on its own.
The ‘a’ is soft in the second syllable while ‘ing’ is pronounced as it would be on any regular suffix – batting, doing, gardening etc.
Why is Mankading Wrong?
There are some that say Mankading isn’t wrong. It is, after all, within the laws of cricket.
In my opinion, I think it is acceptable for a bowler to warn a non-striker batsman if they are backing up too far and, if the batter does it again, they only have themselves to blame if they are run out.
The grey area here relates to whether the bowler has an obligation to warn the batsman. Some would say no while others say yes as that would be more within the spirit of the game.
Where I have a real problem with this is with the bowler who appears to deceive the batter. I’ve seen bowlers almost pretending to release the ball. The batsman sets off and is then run out. This is where Mankading is undoubtedly wrong for me.
How Many Mankading Incidents Have There been?
Not every Mankad incident is recorded so the exact number is unclear. What we do know is, that at the time of writing in December 2021, there have been 14 mankading cases in International Cricket.
The first of these was Vinoo Mankad’s very own run out of Bill Brown at Sydney on that 1947/48 Tour. The most recent incidents came in a women’s one day international between Cameroon and Uganda in 2021.
Top 5 Mankading Incidents
1. Charlie Griffith and Ian Redpath 1968/69
After Vinoo Mankad, it would be 21 years before Mankading appeared again in test cricket. Australia were on the receiving end once again as Charlie Griffith ran out Ian Redpath, without warning, after the batsman had backed up too far.
Following the incident, Australia collapsed from 215/2 to 335/9.
2. Keemo Paul and Richard Ngarava 2016
This Mankad came at a crucial time in the Under 19 World Cup and it effectively won the game for the West Indies. Keemo Paul had no intention of delivering the ball as he ran out the non-striker.
Later, Paul said he had found things ‘difficult’ and he probably wouldn’t do it again.
3. Maeva Douma and four Ugandan batters 2021
It seems clear that the Uganda batters were unaware of the laws as no fewer than four of them were run out by Cameroon’s Maeva Douma in that women’s T20 international of 2021. Rita Musamali, Immaculate Nakisuuyi, Kevin Awino and Janet Mbabazi were the women in question.
4. Sachithra Senanayake and Jos Buttler 2014
This is one incident of Mankading where the bowler had warned the batsman but it still caused controversy. Senanayake was a young bowler, struggling for his place and he’d had his bowling action called into question so his actions in running out Jos Buttler simply angered the Edgbaston crowd.
5. R. Ashwin and Jos Buttler 2019
Ravichandaran Ashwin is a bowler who makes no apology for using the Mankad as he believes batters are effectively cheating. Clearly Jos Buttler hadn’t learned his lesson as Ashwin whipped off the bails while playing for Kings XI Punjab against Rajasthan Royals at the 2019 Indian Premier League.
