Melbourne Stars captain Adam Zampa has revealed he had one single regret from his attempted mankad of the Renegades Tom Rogers on Tuesday night but it wasn’t performing the act.
Zampa sparked a firestorm when late in the Renegades innings he pulled out of his bowling action and whipped the bails off, igniting a heated Melbourne derby.
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However, the mankad, which is deemed a run out on a nonstriker who leaves the crease before the ball has been bowled, was not awarded as the bowler can’t be run out if the bowler’s arm reaches it’s highest point, the MCC, cricket’s lawmakers and custodians, said of the incident.
The mankad has been legal in cricket since March 2022 but the act has continued to be controversial as some feel the act falls outside the spirit of the game.
The drama didn’t helps as Rogers tore the Stars apart, taking 5/16 to decimate the Stars in a 33-run win.
But speaking on Fox Cricket before the Big Bash League clash between the Perth Scorchers and Sydney Thunder on Wednesday, Zampa joked that he “spiced up the derby”.
Asked if he’d do anything differently if he had his time again, he said: “Potentially.
“I don’t regret doing it — I guess I’m a Mankadder now. I’m trying to keep it lighthearted, I got into the competition and whipped the bails off at the time. Gerard Abood said straight away, I think you’ve got your technique wrong here mate and it’s going to be not out here anyway. So yeah …”
Zampa doubled back and said there was one thing he definitely would have changed.
“I have a regret of maybe putting my finger up as soon as I did it and giving it out straight away but I don’t know what the answer is with the mankad,” Zampa said.
“I made the decision at the time because I felt like Tom Rogers was gaining an advantage the ball before. I felt like I’d bowled a good enough ball to be bowling to the tailender but the batsman got back on strike, hence why I did it.
“Would I do it differently? I don’t know. I’m a really competitive guy and make decision out there on the run.”
West Indian legend Brian Lara, who was also on the panel chimed in, backing Zampa’s act.
“I don’t think that I’ve ever stepped out of my crease unless I see the ball travelling out of the bowlers hand,” he said.
“You just need to see a yard of the delivery coming out and then you can leave your crease.
“You’re telling a bowler that if he goes over a line by a centimetre and he gets you out, that’s illegal. But you’re allowed to go down the track three or four yards and take that advantage. I say Adam, run him out.
“I think it’s got to be stamped out of the game. These players have got to understand they’ve got to stay in their crease. I don’t see any great advantage. Where are you going? That bat can still be in the crease and you can still have the legs to make it to the other end.
“I am totally for stamping that side of the game out., let batsmen know they have to stay in their crease.”
Lara added that baseball can catch base runners out if they attempt to steal bases before the pitch.
“I don’t see anything wrong with it,” Lara said.
It’s been an incident that has split the cricket world — as any mankad does.
Mankad aficionado Ravi Ashwin was all for the move, liking former Test star Joe Burns’ tweet: “Regarding a mankad, what is the difference between being stumped at the strikers end and being mankaded at the non strikers end really. This coming from a batter – we should just stay in the crease – Not to mention how tight run outs are these days, every cm counts. Fair game”.
But plenty of others including England star Liam Livingstone — who posted vomit emojis — while Brett Lee told Fox Cricket: “I don’t think it’s great. I just don’t like seeing that in the game of cricket. It doesn’t look good but they’re both within their right to do it.”
Brad Haddin added Rogers hadn’t backed up too far.
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