Run out

The rules

A batsman is out Run out if at any time while the ball is in play no part of his bat or person is grounded behind the popping crease and his wicket is fairly put down by the opposing side.

A batsman may be dismissed Run out whether or not a run is being attempted, even if the delivery is a no ball (i.e. not a fair delivery). There are a number of exceptions to this:

1. A batsman is not run out if he or his bat had been grounded behind the popping crease, but he subsequently leaves it to avoid injury, when the wicket is put down.
2. A batsman is not run out if the ball has not been touched by a fielder (excluding a helmet worn by a fielder), after the bowler has entered his delivery stride, before the wicket is put down. (Therefore, the bowler may not run out the striker instead of bowling to him. This also means that the non-striker is not out if a ball hit by the striker puts down the non-striker's wicket, provided the ball did not touch any member of the fielding side before doing so.)
3. A batsman is not given out Run out if he can be given out Stumped.
4. If the bails have been removed from the stumps, a batsman is only out if the fielder pulls a stump out of the ground with the hand holding the ball. If one bail is still on the stumps the fielder is allowed to knock the bail off to claim a run out.

The batsman can be judged run out when he is closest to the end where the wicket has been put down by the opposition and no other batsman is available inside the crease of the same end. The runs completed before a Run out are still scored by the batsman and his team (compare caught where the reverse is true). The bowler does not get credit for the wicket.

Running out a batsman "backing up"

As a bowler enters his delivery stride, the non-striking batsman usually 'backs up'. This means he leaves his popping crease and walks towards the other end of the wicket so that it will take him less time to reach the other end if he and his batting partner choose to attempt a run.

Sometimes a batsman, whilst backing up, leaves the popping crease before the bowler has actually delivered the ball. Where this has happened, the bowler may attempt to run the non-striking batsman out in accordance with the Laws of the game. If he fails, and the batsman has remained within the crease, the delivery is called a dead ball.

Some observers feel that dismissing a batsman in this way is against the spirit of the game, but others believe that the Laws and regulations exist to be used and that, as the run out backing up is expressly within the professional regulations, it is legitimate and sporting to exercise the provision.

According to the former convention, a generous bowler may warn a batsman to stay in his crease rather than to take his wicket, but this is not required by the Laws of the game or the MCC guidance notes on the Spirit of Cricket. When the run out has happened in first-class cricket, it has on occasion provoked debate, Such dismissals have always occurred and continue to divide opinion.

Vinoo Mankad

The most famous example of this method of dismissal involved the Indian bowler Vinoo Mankad. It occurred during India's tour of Australia on 13 December 1947 in the second Test at Sydney. Mankad ran out Bill Brown when, in the act of delivering the ball, he held on to it and removed the bails with Brown well out of his crease. This was the second time Mankad had dismissed Brown in this fashion on the tour, having already done it in an earlier match against an Australian XI. On that occasion he had warned Brown once before running him out. The Australian press accused Mankad of being unsportsmanlike, although some Australians, including Don Bradman, the Australian captain at the time, defended Mankad's actions. Since this incident, a batsman dismissed in this fashion is (informally) said to have been "Mankaded".

Modern Interpretations of Run Out of Non-Striker

In all matches played under the Laws of cricket with no augmented playing conditions, the bowler may, after he has started his run up, but before he has entered his delivery stride, run out a non-striker who has strayed outside his crease . Appendix D of the 2000 Code defines delivery stride as the stride during which the delivery swing is made; it starts when the bowler's back foot lands for that stride and ends when the front foot lands in the same stride. No warning is necessary. If the fielding side appeal the umpire will give the batsman out run out Under Law 42.15.

Furthermore, in 2011 the ICC Playing Conditions for Test matches, One Day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals brought Mankading back into the International game and other forms of professional cricket including the Indian Premier League (IPL).

According to the various professional playing conditions, 42.11, "The bowler is permitted, before releasing the ball and provided he has not completed his usual delivery swing, to attempt to run out the non-striker. Whether the attempt is successful or not, the ball shall not count as one of the over. If the bowler fails in an attempt to run out the non-striker, the umpire shall call and signal dead ball as soon as possible."

The umpires shall deem the bowler to have completed his delivery swing once his bowling arm passes the normal point of ball release.

By making these changes, the ICC have changed the balance of regulations in the professional game in favour of the fielding side. Attempts at, and appeals for, a run out under these circumstances are upheld, despite protestations by some that they are "not within the spirit of the game."

In July 2014 The World Cricket Council, an independent consultative body of former international captains and umpires, commenting in the light of the Buttler runout by Senanayake, unanimously expressed support of Sri Lanka's actions and a lack of sympathy with the batsman

For other forms of cricket, governed by the Laws, the bowler can run out the non-striker only before entering his delivery stride. As the bowler's back foot lands, the non-striker can move down the pitch without risk of run out.

Thus amateur cricketers may not copy the professionals in detail on this: what is Out in professional cricket (but may be regarded as too sharp a practice by some) is definitely Not Out in amateur cricket.

The Spirit of Cricket, which is a preamble to the Laws, lists a series of behaviours considered by the cricket community to be unsporting or contrary to the Spirit of the Game, but dismissing the non-striker whilst backing up is not mentioned.

Instances of Mankading in Test cricket

1. Bill Brown by Vinoo Mankad, Australia v India, Sydney, 1947–1948
2. Ian Redpath by Charlie Griffith, Australia v West Indies, Adelaide, 1968–1969
3. Derek Randall by Ewen Chatfield, England v New Zealand, Christchurch, 1977–1978
4. Sikander Bakht by Alan Hurst, Pakistan v Australia, Perth, 1978–1979

Instances of Mankading in One Day Internationals

The batsman's team is listed first.

1. Brian Luckhurst by Greg Chappell, England v Australia, Melbourne, 1974–1975
2. Grant Flower by Dipak Patel, Zimbabwe v New Zealand, Harare, 1992–1993
3. Peter Kirsten by Kapil Dev, South Africa v India, Port Elizabeth, 1992–1993
4. Jos Buttler by Sachithra Senanayake, England v Sri Lanka, Birmingham, 2014
5. Richard Ngarava by Keemo Paul, Zimbabwe vs West Indies, 2016 Under-19 Cricket World Cup, Bangladesh on 02/02/2016

Instances of Mankading in Twenty20 Internationals

1. Mark Chapman by Aamir Kaleem, Hong Kong v Oman, 2016 Asia Cup Qualifier, February 2016

Instances of Mankading in first-class

1. Joe Hardstaff by Khadim Hussain, Lord Tennyson's XI vs Sind, Karachi, 1937
2. John Smith by Ray Allen, Canterbury v Wellington, Wellington, 1944
3. Gordon Barker by Wilf Wooller, Essex v Glamorgan, Cardiff, 1956
4. Hanumant Singh by Ashwini Chaturvedi, Rajasthan v Uttar Pradesh, Udaipur, 1960
5. Rudolph Cohen by Jamiel Ali, Jamaica v Trinidad and Tobago, Port of Spain, 1964
6. Ray Gripper by Barry Richards, Rhodesia v Natal, Salisbury, 1968
7. Douglas Morgan by Raymond Le Roux, South African Universities v Orange Free State, Bloemfontein, 1968
8. Clive Lloyd by Stanley Hinds, Guyana v Windward Islands, Roseau, 1983
9. Alex Barrow by Murali Kartik, Somerset v Surrey, Taunton, 2012
10. Sandipan Das by Murali Kartik, Bengal v Railways, Delhi, 2013

Instances of not Mankading

1. Walsh – Jaffar : Courtney Walsh of the West Indies famously refused to Mankad last man Saleem Jaffar of Pakistan for backing up too far in a group match in the 1987 World Cup, but let him off with a warning. Pakistan went on to win the match while the defeat cost the West Indies a place in the semi-final.
2. Rafique – Gul : The same thing was repeated in a 2003 Test match in Multan between Bangladesh and Pakistan. Pakistan eventually won the Test match by just 1 wicket. Mohammad Rafique of Bangladesh did not run out Umar Gul of Pakistan.
3. Ashwin – Thirimanne : Ravichandran Ashwin of the Indian cricket team Mankaded Lahiru Thirimanne of Sri Lankan cricket team when he backed up too much before the ball was bowled in a group match in the Commonwealth Bank Series 2012 held in Australia. However the standing umpires, Paul Reiffel and Billy Bowden, after discussion asked India if they wanted to reconsider the appeal and Virender Sehwag, captaining in the absence of MS Dhoni, withdrew the appeal after discussion with Sachin Tendulkar. Sehwag claims that Ashwin had warned Thirimanne before running him out, however Mahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lanka captain, said he was not aware of the warning.