Mankad debate rages on in Orange as city's skippers have their say

The mankad debate has once again reared its ugly head following Adam Zampa's failed attempt to run Tom Rogers out on during Tuesday's all-Melbourne BBL clash.

With Rogers having strayed from his crease on previous deliveries already, the Stars captain had had enough and decided to whip the bails off.

However, in a twist of fate, Rogers was not sent packing because Zampa's arm had gone past the vertical position.

This is hardly the first time the issue of whether to mankad or not has arisen, with Indian spinner Ravi Ashwin seemingly caught up in the scandal every other month.

But considering the dismissal is legal and available for all to utilise, should there be any debate at all?

With a healthy choice of bowling and batting BOIDC captains to choose from, we took it upon ourselves to figure out whether we could see a mankad in Orange anytime soon...and we were surprised to find out there had already been a mankad case in the city this season.

Centrals first grade captain Cam Rasmussen bore witness to a successful mankad in a junior game back in November of 2022.

"I did witness a mankad in the under 16s game two months back between Centrals and Orange City. It was probably one of the most controversial moments I've seen in Orange cricket to date."

On that occasion, the batter was given out, but upon reflection, they probably should have remained at the crease.

"The technique was incorrect, exactly like how Zampa did," he added.

"As a spectator it was quite a surreal moment. Many people weren't happy with the call from both sides."

So how would the middle-order batter feel about it, should a mankad arise in a first grade match?

"As a player I'm all for it," he said.

"But it should be in the right spirit of the game to give a warning."

That same sentiment was shared by CYMS first grade skipper, Tom Belmonte.

"The bowler should give a warning before attempting it," he said.

"I'm a batsman but still think it's fair and balances the game."

Cavaliers skipper Matt Corben believes there should be a little bit more leniency in terms of the tactic.

"I'm not really for it," he said.

"I'm all for warning people if they're leaving early, but I think it really has to be at least a couple of warnings."

In saying that, he doesn't imagine the issue coming into play much in the future.

"I don't think the blokes in our comp are quick enough to worry about that," he added.

"It's a bit more cut and dry here than in the Big Bash with it being mainly just ones and twos. I don't really think it will play a part in the BOIDC."

Although none of Belmonte, Rasmussen or Corben have had to deal with the mankad scenario in a match they captained, there is at least one man in town who has.

Ed Morrish was in his first season of skippering Orange City when a decision had to be made in a game against Kinross.

"Josh Cheney mankaded one of the young fellas from Kinross," Morrish recalled.

"He was warned twice and then did it again, so Cheney knocked the bails off."

After a bit of confusion, Morrish called the batter back to the field on that occasion.

"Back in the day, it was very, very frowned upon and the rule was a lot different," Morrish added.

"The rule now is you can do it at pretty much any point, as long as you're not about to bowl it...I didn't even know that was a rule to be honest, that if you come right over that it's not counted."

Predominantly a bowler himself, Morrish had a more straightforward approach to the mankad laws than his batting counterparts.

"I'm going to put my bowler's cap on, if you look at it from a bowling standpoint, batsmen are given enough advantages in cricket today as it is," City's skipper added.

"We have to bowl with a white ball for 40 or 50 overs or in T20 you bowl with a white ball and there's powerplays. There's all this stuff in the favour of batsmen, surely they can stay in their crease for an extra two seconds."

With that sentiment, Morrish also believes Zampa was well within his rights to attempt the mankad of Rogers.

"I don't reckon it's any longer a spirit of cricket question, or sportsmanship, it's a rule. Stay in your crease or you'll be given out. It's just another mode of dismissal and some people don't like it," he said.

"I would probably be annoyed if I got given out that way, but you're trying to win a game of cricket and you'll try and win at all means."

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