The official lawmakers of cricket have declared the umpires got it right in declaring Adam Zampa’s mankad attempt at the MCG on Tuesday night a fail.
As the incident went viral through the cricketing world, the MCC confirmed Zampa was too far into his bowling action to run out Tom Rogers.
Zampa, the Melbourne Stars’ captain, has declared he was within his rights to run out Renegades tailender Rogers, who had crept out of his crease in the final over of their batting innings.
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But the batter, who said it was a “bit murky” as he tried to laugh it off post-game, was given not out because Zampa had reached the point where he would “normally have been expected to release the ball”.
The incident comes after Australian Test captain Pat Cummins gave his players the green light to effect run outs in that manner after fast bowler Mitchell Starc gave South African Theunis de Bruyn a significant warning during the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.
In a clarifying statement, the MCC, which rules on such actions from the section of the game’s laws governing “unfair play” as to the provisions around run outs, said the umpires were correct.
Cricket’s Law 38.3 states:
“If the nonstriker 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 nonstriker is liable to be run out.”
The MCC statement said the point at which the ball comes in to play has long been defined as “the highest point in that bowler’s action”.
“The nonstriker is no longer able to be run out in this way after the bowler has reached the highest point in his/her action,” the statement said.
“This is so that the bowler cannot pretend to bowl the ball in order to tempt the nonstriker out of his/her ground, go through his/her action, and then come all the way round and attempt a run out.
“The umpires correctly gave the nonstriker (Rogers) not out, as the bowler (Zampa) had not attempted the run out before going past the point at which he would normally be expected to release the ball.
“As with all incidents regarding the running out of the nonstriker, the MCC would like to reiterate that the best way for nonstrikers to prevent being run out is to remain in their ground until they see the ball released by the bowler.”
Zampa was adamant he was well within his rights to attempt the run out, but conceded he and the Stars may have withdrawn the appeal if it was given out.
The Stars’ captain also said, however, he might also do it again because it’s within the rules.
“I’m not sure what decision I would’ve went with once the ruling had been made,” he said.
“Even if I got my technique right and (umpire) Gerard (Abood) said that’s probably going to be out, I don’t know what decision I would’ve come to.
“I’m a very competitive guy, so I guess I saw red a little bit when he (Rogers) used that (stealing ground) to his advantage.
“If it gets in that situation again, I’m not saying I won’t do it.”
