‘Mankads’ will cause ‘absolutely carnage’ in club cricket this summer, according to former England batter Mark Butcher.
Run-outs at the non-striker’s end before the ball is bowled have become an increasingly common sight in international cricket.
India spinner Ravi Ashwin was branded ’embarrassing’ by Shane Warne after using the method to dismiss England’s Jos Buttler at the Indian Premier League in 2019, but there is now a growing acceptance that ‘Mankads’ are part of the game.
India’s Deepti Sharma used a ‘Mankad’ to dismiss England’s Charlie Dean and win an ODI at Lord’s last September, while Mitchell Starc warned South Africa’s Theunis de Bruyn to stay in his crease during a Test match at the MCG.
There have also been ‘Mankad’ attempts – some successful, some not – during Australia’s Big Bash League and the Women’s U19 World Cup.
The mode of dismissal continues to divide opinion but Butcher believes the real ‘carnage’ will take place in recreational cricket as teams and players wrestle with ‘Mankads’, which are in the laws of the game but often viewed as against the ‘Spirit of Cricket’.
Speaking on the Wisden Cricket Weekly Podcast, Butcher said: ‘The other side to this is we’re looking at this very much through the prism of professional cricket.
‘Or cricket that is subject at least to behavioural norms that comes with it being scrutinised by a worldwide audience.
‘What is not being talked about is the effect that this is likely to have on village greens on Sunday afternoons up and down the country if this starts to become the norm.
‘And you can argue until you’re blue in the face that it’s in the laws and you’re within your rights to do so.
‘And I may have used this analogy before about something else, but it’s the idea that you’re absolutely within your rights to sleep with your best mate’s ex-wife minutes after they’ve split up but don’t complain if you get punched in the face for it!
‘I can just see absolute carnage happening up and down this land and many others if people start doing it as a matter of course in club games.
‘Because there’s very little regulation in terms of people’s behaviour there and the game as it is played and has been played for years and years with guys umpiring their own players and that type of thing.
‘The game has always been played on the basis that there will be a bit of good sportsmanship. Otherwise, we will not be sharing jugs in the bar, type thing. And if this starts happening up and down the land there will be blood – I’m telling you that now.’
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