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Mankad. It's a dirty word and it's been making me sick for more than 24 hours. So to the man somewhere in Canberra who got a sneaky two-metre head start before a ball was bowled on Tuesday night, I'm sorry. Well, sorry not sorry. It shouldn't have happened. If I could give you back the five runs, I would. But I can't, and you were so far down the pitch that I couldn't stop myself hitting the stumps to run you out. The question is: what should I have done? Is it OK to Mankad someone ... especially if they deserve it? For those who don't know what a Mankad is, it's when a batsman at the non-striker's end in cricket is run out due to excessive backing up before the ball is bowled. It's part of the official cricket and indoor cricket laws. But it's also one of the most controversial laws, usually frowned upon by batsman and bowlers. It's named after Indian cricketer Vinoo Mankad after he ran out Bill Brown in the act of delivering the ball during Australia's tour of India in 1947-48. Since then it has threatened to re-emerge on the international cricket stage every now and then. England batsman Jos Buttler was run out in a game against Sri Lanka for walking out of his crease in a one-day international at Edgbaston four years ago. Buttler was warned once by the bowler, then walked out of his crease again so Sachithra Senanayke decided to take the bails off and claim the wicket. The West Indies under-19s team sparked controversy two years ago when they used the tactic to run out a Zimbabwe batsman in a junior World Cup quarter-final. Zimbabwe needed three runs to win with one wicket left in the last over. It prompted England captain Eoin Morgan to describe it as "disgraceful behaviour" and said the West Indies "should be embarrassed". So who and what is right? Yes, it's frowned upon. But is it wrong to stop the batsman having an unfair advantage? At the Weston Indoor centre, the batsman was warned once about getting a giant head start and he was even further down the pitch the next time. There was no whiteline fever. It was more a case of, 'Mate, you're two and half metres out. Might as well knock 'em over'. For whatever reason, it still left a sinking feeling in my stomach on the drive home after the first game in six months. For the record, we got absolutely thumped. The verdict on the Weston Creek Mankad? The brother-in-law: "It's a no-go from me. Can warn him a few times, but don't do it." The brother: "Did you warn him? Fair play then." The wife: "What's 'man-carting'?" The colleague: "How do you sleep at night?" Sir Donald Bradman (70 years ago): "By backing up too far or too early, the nonstriker is very obviously gaining an unfair advantage." The childhood cricket mate: "I'm all for it. Stay in your crease." The indoor cricket officials I confessed to: "I hate it. But, the thing is it's a rule. Do the batsmen want us to move the line two metres forward? Trust me, it's not the bowler's fault, it's the batsman's. All he had to do was stay in his crease." So maybe sorry not sorry is the best way to sum it up.

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