The MCC laws are clear. If a batter is caught backing up when the bowler is in delivery side, the latter can run out the batter even without giving a warning. Many criticised the form of dismissal and Deepti Sharma running out Charlie Dean including England limited-overs skipper Jos Buttler. Yet, the wicketkeeper-batter was found backing up when Mitchell Starc had not released the ball in third T20I at Manuka Oval, Canberra.
Even though it would have been a legitimate dismissal, Starc opted not to run out Buttler at the non-striker end despite repeated attempts to take an early start.
The veteran England batter has been dismissed twice at the non-striker’s end. The first instance was in 2014 where Sri Lanka's Sachithra Senanayake dismissed him in an ODI. The second dismissal was in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 when Ravichandran Ashwin dismissed him for the same. The latter dismissal snowballed into a major controversy.
“No, I am calling the batsman back,” Buttler had said last month in response to Deepti running out Charlie. “No one wants to see [mankads] in the game because they always create such a talking point when it should be about the battle between bat and ball and watching great games of cricket. They always seem to happen at unsavoury times.”
Buttler still considers the dismissal against the spirit of the game. However, after Starc’s warning, Buttler did not cross the crease for the rest of his over.
When Starc refused to run out Buttler, he was batting on 15 off 16 deliveries with Dawid Malan at the other end in the fifth over. The 32-year-old went on to score 65 runs from 41 deliveries including seven fours and one six to help the visitors post 112/2 in the rain-curtailed 12 overs per side game.
The match did not produce a result as rain played spoilsport again. However, Buttler added 49 more runs from just 25 balls after getting a second chance which could have been the difference between the two teams especially after Chris Woakes got rid of the top-order.
