Zampa won’t rule out future Mankad attempts

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. But the batter, who said it was a “bit murky” as he tried to laugh it off postgame, 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 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”.

Zampa was adamant he was well within his rights to attempt the run out, but conceded he and the Stars may have withdrawn the appeal if it was given out.

“If it gets in that situation again, I’m not saying I won’t do it,” he said.