Australian great Ian Healy has applauded the decision to move away from the notion of Mankad dismissals in cricket being unfair.
The MCC recently announced changes to come into effect from October this year, one of them centering around the Mankad.
The uncommon form of dismissal occurs when a bowler interrupts their own run up to run out the non-striker if they are out of their crease, and the MCC now states the dismissal is not “unfair play”.
The MCC’s laws manager Fraser Stewart told The Times: “The bowler is always painted as the villain but it is a legitimate way to dismiss someone and it is the non-striker who is stealing the ground. It is legitimate, it is a run-out and therefore it should live in the run-out section of the laws.”
English quick Stuart Broad took to Twitter to question the move after it was announced, suggesting he wouldn’t be integrating the move into his game.
“So the Mankad is no longer unfair & is now a legitimate dismissal,” he wrote.
“Hasn’t it always been a legitimate dismissal & whether it is unfair is subjective? I think it is unfair & wouldn’t consider it, as IMO (in my opinion), dismissing a batter is about skill & the Mankad requires zero skill.”
However, wicketkeeping legend Healy shares contrasting views to the Englishman.
Healy, who had a Test batting average of 27, is pleased it is now on the batter not to make a mistake.
“It’s a batsman that’s making a bad error,” Healy said on SEN’s Pat and Heals.
“That’s a bad error by a batsman being out of your crease, now it’s no longer unethical, they’re saying.
“It’s gone further than unfair… if they are getting an unfair advantage by pinching yardage… that is cheating. That is pinching a metre.
“Now you don’t have to feel bad about running them out.”
However, he’s not predicting it to have a major effect on the game.
“Only if the batsmen are dopes (will it then influence the game), (they) should be in (their) crease every delivery,” Healy added.
“It’s something I thought of every delivery (when I was playing).”
The MCC also confirmed other minor tweaks to the game, including stating that using saliva to shine the ball will be considered illegal.
A new batter coming to the crease will also now have to face the next ball – unless it’s the end of an over – even if the batters crossed during the dismissal.