Aussie cricket legend Shane Watson has some powerful words for bowlers who controversially mankad opponents: it’s ‘weak’.
The 41-year-old Queenslander, who represented Australia 309 times during one of the country’s greatest-ever eras, is now a highly respected commentator, coach and president of the Australian Cricket Association – and he is not a fan of the controversial mode of dismissal.
Mankadding, which refers to a bowler running a batter out before he or she has delivered the ball, has long been seen as both against the spirit of the game, and against the laws of the game.
In October, however, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the owner of Lord’s and the guardian of the laws of the game, announced that it was now a legitimate mode of dismissal after tweaking the wording.
The change ignited a furious debate that still continues to rage in cricket circles.
Shane Watson represented Australia more than 300 times in a storied career as one of the country’s greatest-ever all-rounders
Shane Watson (right) pictured with wife Lee (second from right) and former Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting and his wife Rianna, is now a highly respected commentator and coach since retiring – as is Ponting
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia at a sponsors event for the T20 World Cup final, Watson bluntly said regardless of the change, it was something he would never do.
‘That’s what it’s moved to now (mankadding being a reality). Now it seems like, with what I’ve seen, when people have used that rule, now they normally do it when there’s a lot riding on that moment in the game and they have to find a way to try and get someone out,’ he said.
‘For me, growing up, it was something I’d never even thought about. You never thought about exposing that [mankad rule] because it wasn’t in the spirit of the game.
‘I never would, even now with the rule change, because there’s other ways to try to get someone out.
‘If you’re not good enough to be able to get someone out in a proper way, then I think that’s a weak way to get someone out – and if you can’t get someone out in a proper way, you should lose.’
Shane Watson, pictured with wife Lee on the blue carpet prior to the 2017 Allan Border Medal awards, said bowlers who mankad batsmen are ‘weak’
Kings XI Punjab bowler Ravi Ashwin (number 99) runs out Jos Buttler, playing for the Rajasthan Royals, during an IPL game in 2019
Mankadding is the most contentious issue in the game, with two of the most high-profile examples being now-English skipper Jos Buttler being dismissed by controversial Indian spinner Ravi Ashwin during an Indian Premier League (IPL) game in 2019.
More recently, with the Indian women’s side sliding towards a defeat against England in a ODI in September, spinner Deepti Sharma decided to take the bails off during her delivery stride, with Charlie Dean left in tears after the match.
Both incidents, and other rare examples at the top level, continue to be debated to this day, but Watson, who is now an assistant coach at Delhi Capitals in the IPL, said the recent law change did nothing to change his opinion on the matter.
Shane Watson acknowledges the crowd after scoring 80 off 59 balls for the Chennai Super Kings in the 2019 IPL final which his side lost by one run
Watson believes those who do choose to do so must also accept the fact it will generate a significant amount of negative publicity because it is against the spirit of the game.
‘But now [after the change] people have got a different perspective on it, because now you can legally do it. But honestly, from my perspective after coaching in the Indian Premier League as an assistant coach, I certainly would never recommend anyone doing that,’ he said.
‘Because it’s a law, if you feel very strongly that you want to find that way of getting a batter out, then you can do it legally, but you’ve got to accept the potential ramifications from people, the talking points around it.
‘There were times I was bowling, and someone was taking off and taking off, but you just wouldn’t bowl the ball. And you would say, come on, you got to stay in your crease.
‘So there’s always enough warnings, but you never, ever consider it, and the umpires would have ruled over it anyway, when people were really fighting against the spirit of the game,’ said Watson.
Shane Watson, pictured celebrating after scoring a century for Australia in the 2013 Ashes series in England, said he would NEVER consider mankadding
By the letter of the MCC law, the so-called ‘Mankad’ rules are now: ‘If the non-striker is out of his/her ground at any time from the moment the ball comes into play until the instant when the bowler would normally have been expected to release the ball, the non-striker is liable to be run out.
‘In these circumstances, the non-striker will be out run out if he/she is out of his/her ground when his/her wicket is put down by the bowler throwing the ball at the stumps or by the bowler’s hand holding the ball, whether or not the ball is subsequently delivered.’
When Ashwin decided to run Buttler out at the non-strikers end during an IPL clash, starting his delivery stride but stopping to run out the Englishman who was just centimetres out of his crease, current and former cricketers all over the world flocked to social media to condemn the Indian spinner.
Even Buttler’s father was scathing at the time, in no doubt that the dismissal should not be allowed.
Watson acknowledged that there were now a couple of high-profile figures in the game, principally from the subcontinent, who believe mankadding is as fair as any other mode of dismissal.
‘But now the rules have changed and there’s some people who are very, very strong that it’s OK. Obviously Ravi Ashwin did it in the IPL against Jos Buttler, and Jos’s father wasn’t happy with it – and I certainly wouldn’t have been if that was me batting,’ he said.
‘And now you’ve got some commentators with very strong words that it’s absolutely OK, like Harsha Bhogle, who I’ve got the utmost respect for, he swears black and blue that it’s OK and he’s got every right to. It certainly creates a talking point.’
Indian commentator Bhogle, known to many as the ‘voice of cricket’, is no fence sitter: he is firmly of the opinion it is a legitimate mode of dismissal, and absolutely slams anyone who thinks otherwise.
After Dean was left in tears by Sharma during England’s last-gasp loss in September, the storm of controversy was ignited again – with an even more voracious condemnation of the act following.
Given the fact Dean was in her crease when Sharma began her delivery stride, before stopping and turning to run-out the clueless 21-year-old whose eyes were facing down the pitch, England fans were in uproar.
That ignited even further when Sharma claimed the Indians had repeatedly warned her before the mankad, a claim England captain Heather Knight slammed as lies.
England captain Heather Knight has accused India of ‘lying’ about their controversial ‘Mankad’
In the very next game between the two sides, Dean then had an opportunity to inflict the exact same pain on her opponent with ball in hand – but chose not to take it.
Bhogle then went on a Twitter rant for the ages, bizarrely accusing those critics of Sharma – of which there were many all over the world – of using colonialism to justify why mankadding was not a legitimate form of dismissal.
In his mind, mankadding was a way of England trying to exert their power over the rest of the world.
England player Freya Davies (right) comforts a heartbroken Charlie Dean (left) after the latter was mankadded, meaning the side lost to Indian with victory in sight
Deepti Sharma (centre) said she had given Dean ‘repeated warnings’ – a claim that the English skipper rubbished, and appeared jubilant after the win
‘It is a cultural thing. The English thought it [mankadding] was wrong to do so and because they ruled over a large part of the cricket world, they told everyone it was wrong,’ Bhogle wrote on Twitter.
‘The colonial domination was so powerful that few questioned it. As a result, the mindset still is that what England considers wrong should be considered wrong by the rest of the cricket world, much like the ‘line’ the Aussies say you must not cross having decided what the line should be which is fine in their culture but may not be for others.
‘(I’m) asking others to wake up from centuries-old colonial slumber. The easiest thing is to play by the laws of the game and stop worrying about subjective interpretation of the spirit of the game, stop forcing opinions on others,’ wrote Bhogle.
It’s fair to say it was a view not appreciated by English superstar Ben Stokes, who was incredulous race and culture were brought into the debate.
Aussie quick Mitchell Starc, who warned Buttler instead of mankadding him during a T20 International between the two sides leading up for the World Cup, believes he has a solution to end the controversy.
‘While it is hard to do at all levels, why not take it out of the hands of interpretation and make it black and white?’ Starc told The Age.
‘There are cameras for front foot no-balls, a camera there all the time [in international cricket] and someone watching the line.
‘Every time the batter leaves the crease before the front foot lands, dock them a run. There’s no grey area then. And in T20 cricket where runs are so handy at the back end and games can be decided by, one, two, three runs all the time, if all of a sudden you get docked 20 runs because a batter’s leaving early, you’re going to stop doing it aren’t you?
‘Then there’s no stigma. It’s taken away from the decision to have to run someone out or think about it. If it’s blatant, it is a different story, but I feel like that is at least completely black and white,’ said Starc.
Mitchell Starc (right) warned Jos Buttler about being outside his crease in a T20 game prior to the recent World Cup instead of mankadding him
One thing is for sure, until the wording and interpretation of the law is changed to make it completely black and white, controversy will continue to range.
Either way, you won’t catch Shane Watson encouraging anyone to do it, that’s for sure.
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