As per new laws set by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), from this moment onwards, the act of mankading is fair and acceptable in cricket
Founded in 1787, the Marylebone Cricket Club is based at the Lord’s Cricket Ground since 1814. The club took the responsibility of framing laws related to cricket in 1788 and since then; the club has been responsible for framing new laws and amending existing laws. Recently, the club introduced and amended several laws related to the gentlemen’s game. In the following paragraphs, we have listed down those new and amended laws.
Mankading is fair and acceptable
As per MCC, the act of mankading is fair and acceptable and therefore, the act has been moved to Law 38. For the unversed souls, Law 38 is related to run-outs and from this moment onwards, mankading will be seen as a run-out. Earlier, mankading was considered an act of unfair play under Law 41. In 2019, India’s Ashwin mankaded Jos Buttler in the Indian Premier League because of which, a huge number of people trolled Ashwin.
Not usage of saliva
MCC, the custodian of cricket laws, also stated that players will not be allowed to use saliva on the ball for polishing. The club issued a statement that read,“When cricket resumed following the onset of Covid-19, playing conditions were written in most forms of the game, stating that applying saliva to the ball was no longer permitted. The new Laws will not permit the use of saliva on the ball, which also removes any grey areas of fielders eating sugary sweets to alter their saliva to apply to the ball. Using saliva will be treated the same way as any other unfair methods of changing the condition of the ball.”
The unfair movement will cause penalty runs
Apart from the usage of saliva and mankading, an unfair movement from the fielding team will not only be considered a dead ball, but the batting side will also receive five extra runs as a penalty. Earlier, unfair movement by the fielding side only resulted in a dead ball.
Last but not the least, the changes made by MCC will not go into effect until the International Cricket Council and national cricket associations accept them. However, it must be noted that the International Cricket Council has never gone against changes suggested by MCC.
