Sports

Mathews regrets Mankading of Buttler

Published

4 years ago

2022/08/14

by Rex Clementine

In an interview with our sister paper ‘Divaina Online’ former captain Angelo Mathews admitted that he regretted Mankading of England batsman Jos Buttler in 2014 at Edgbaston. This was the tour where Mathews had skippered Sri Lanka to an ODI and Test series wins in England. The teams had come into the final ODI with the series squared 2-2 and everything to play for. Buttler was run out for 21 as he was backing up too far at the non-striker’s end by off-spinner Sachithra Senanayake.

The umpires asked captain Mathews whether Sri Lanka were serious in their appeal. Mathews answered in the affirmative and Buttler had to go. But there was a storm of protest in England saying that Sri Lanka had contravened the Spirit of Cricket. Many believe that Mankading is unsportsmanlike as batsmen leave the crease unwittingly and not in a bid to gain undue advantage.

Mathews was adamant at that point that he wouldn’t hesitate to do it again, but now seven years older and a veteran of 100 Tests, the former captain regrets the decision.

“It was a spur of the moment thing. In hindsight we shouldn’t have done it. I could have told the umpires that I’m withdrawing the appeal. Yes, I regret the decision. But we had warned Buttler several times. Not only at Edgbaston but even in the previous game at Lord’s,” Mathews said.

There was more to it than what everyone had witnessed that night. Sri Lanka coach Marvan Atapattu is meticulous with his planning and he had observed in the previous game that Buttler converting many singles into two and twos into threes. It had been observed that Buttler had run ten twos in the last ten overs in the previous game. Marvan had given the thumbs up for Mankading of Buttler.

The incident was not well received in England. Mathews was a public enemy and a much despised figure. Not even David Warner and Steve Smith after the sandpaper gate had received such a hostile reception in England during Australia’s Ashes campaign.

Mathews and England captain Sir Alastair Cook had exchanged words during the game and Cook minced no words at the post match media briefing. “There’s a line and that line was crossed here. I’ve never seen it before in the game and I was pretty disappointed by it. As captain of your country, there are certain ways you want your team to operate. And obviously he is fine with it. He has said he will do it again.”

Sri Lanka’s Manager at that point was the equally eloquent Michael de Zoysa and he queried, ‘Who marks those lines.’

Michael was also careful to protect his captain. Instead of sending Mathews for the post series media briefing as was the custom, he brought down Mahela Jayawardene. MJ was diplomatic. “We had warned Buttler at Lord’s and we warned him in the 42nd over in this game and when he did it again in the 44th over, we ran out of options,” he said.

Buttler had been a serial offender and had been dismissed backing up too far in the IPL as well with Ravichandran Ashwin effecting the run out.

The MCC, the guardians of Cricket’s Laws put an end to the debate with a tweak in the Law in 2017. Earlier, it had been suggested that the batter could take off when the bowler landed his back foot. But now the non-striker can take off only after the bowler has released the ball and it seals the deal.” The MCC Cricket Committee that introduced the change included some of the finest brains in the game like Kumar Sangakkara, Ricky Ponting and Brendon McCullum.

What does the term Mankading means? Well, Indian cricketer Vinoo Mankad had famously run out Australia’s Bil Brown in 1947 in Sydney for backing up too far after multiple warnings. There was controversy but Australian captain Sir Don Bradman had defended Mankad’s actions. The press had a field day and gave birth to a new English word, ‘Mankading’.

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Agha calls for ‘sportsman spirit’ after controversial dismissal

Published

4 hours ago

2026/03/14

Priyan

Salman Agha reacted furiously after his controversial dismissal [BBC]

Salman Ali Agha said that he would have done things ‘differently”, after Mehidy Hasan Miraz ran him out in controversial circumstances in the second ODI in Dhaka.

Agha, who made 64 from 62 balls, had been backing up at the non-striker’s end when Mohammad Rizwan drove the ball back towards him. He was still out of his ground as Mehidy swooped round behind him in an attempt to gather, and Agha had appeared ready to pass the ball back to the bowler before Mehidy reached down to grab it first and throw down the stumps.

Agha reacted furiously to the dismissal, throwing his gloves and helmet down in disgust at the decision. However, he later came to the post-match press conference, ahead of captain Shaheen Shah Afridi and player of the match Maaz Sadaqat, to clear the air.

“I think sportsman spirit has to be there,” Agha said. “What he [Mehidy] has done is in the law. I think if he thinks it’s right, it’s right, but if you ask me my perspective, I would have done differently. I would have gone for sportsman spirit. We haven’t done this [type of thing] previously, we would never do that in the future as well.”

Agha explained that he had been trying to pick up the ball to give to Miraz, thinking it was likely to have been called dead. “Actually, the ball hit on my pad and then my bat,” he said. “So I thought he can’t get me run-out now, because the ball already hit on my pad and my bat.

“I was just trying to give him the ball back. I was not looking for the run or anything like that, but he already decided [to make the run-out].”

Agha however regretted his angry reaction. “It was just heat-of-the-moment kind of stuff,” he said. “If you ask me what would I have done, I would have done things differently. But it was everything, whatever happened after that, it was in the moment.”

He was also involved in a robust exchange with Bangladesh wicketkeeper Litton Das, though he didn’t divulge many of the details.

“I can’t remember what I was saying and I can’t remember what he was saying,” he said. “I’m sure I wasn’t saying nice things, and I’m sure he wasn’t saying nice stuff as well. But it was just heat of the moment, so we are fine.

Asked if he had patched things up with Mehidy, Agha said: “I haven’t yet, but don’t worry, I’ll find him.”

Pakistan won the match by 128 runs via the DLS method.

[Cricinfo]

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Bahrain & Saudi Arabia Grands Prix to be cancelled

Published

13 hours ago

2026/03/14

Priyan

The grands prix in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia were scheduled for next month (BBC)

The Bahrain and Saudi Arabia Grands Prix that were scheduled for next month are set to be cancelled as a result of the war in the Middle East.

A formal decision to call off the races has not yet been made but is expected before the end of the weekend.

Freight would need to start being shipped to the Middle East in the coming days. With no sign of the conflict between the US/Israel and Iran coming to a conclusion, holding the races would put personnel at too great a risk.

Neither event will be replaced, with the season being cut to 22 grands prix and F1 taking a commercial hit of more than £100m, given Bahrain and Saudi Arabia pay two of the highest hosting fees.

The race in Bahrain was scheduled to be on 12 April with Jeddah the following weekend.

Consideration was given to holding events at Portimao in Portugal, Imola in Italy or Istanbul Park in Turkey.

But it was accepted that the time to organise a race at any of those locations was too short, and there was little chance of securing a hosting fee.

The decision will mean there is a five-week break between the Japanese Grand Prix on 29 March and Miami on 3 May.

(BBC)

Sports

Rehan, Ramiru guide Royal on day two

Published

14 hours ago

2026/03/14

Thilina Walpola

Royal College made steady progress in reply to their arch rivals’ first innings total as skipper Rehan Peiris and Ramiru Perera guided them to 175 for four wickets at stumps on day two of the 147th Battle of the Blues at the SSC ground on Friday.

‎Royal needed only 51 overs to reach their end-of-day total after S. Thomas’ College had earlier adopted a cautious approach before being bowled out for 302 runs.

‎Royal suffered an early setback when open batsman Hirun Liyanarachchi was dismissed for naught in the very first over, caught behind by Aaron Kodituwakku off the bowling of Gimhan Mendis.

‎Skipper Rehan Peiris then steadied the innings, repairing the early damage with two useful partnerships. He first added 41 runs for the second wicket with Udantha Gangewatta and followed it up with a 34-run stand for the third wicket alongside Sri Lanka Under-19 skipper Vimath Dinsara.

‎Dinsara struggled to find fluency during his stay at the crease, managing 11 runs off 30 balls before being trapped leg-before by Gimhan Mendis, who finished the day with two wickets.

‎Rehan continued to anchor the innings and produced the most productive stand of the Royal innings when he combined with Ramiru Perera for a vital 78-run partnership for the fourth wicket. The Royal skipper’s determined knock finally ended on 63 when he was dismissed by Ludeesha Matarage.

‎From there, Ramiru Perera and Yasindu Dissanayake ensured there were no further setbacks, batting cautiously until bad light forced the umpires to call off play.

‎Perera remained unbeaten on 70, an attractive innings that included ten boundaries, while Dissanayake provided solid support at the other end as Royal closed the day strongly.

‎Earlier in the day, resuming from their overnight score, the Thomians continued with their ultra-cautious approach, scoring at just over two runs per over. Reshon Solomon top-scored with 66 runs, while Ludeesha Matarage and Raphael Hettige chipped in with useful contributions in the twenties.

‎S. Thomas’ were eventually bowled out for 302 just before the lunch interval on the second day, having consumed 124 overs during their four-session first innings.

‎Gagan Gamage was the pick of the Royal bowlers with impressive figures of four wickets for 49 runs. He received good support from Sehandu Sooriyaarachchi, who claimed three wickets for 64 runs, while Himaru Deshan picked up two wickets for 43. Ramiru Perera also chipped in with a wicket to complete the Thomian innings.