ICC T20 World Cup 2022: "Every Time The Batter Leaves The Crease Before The Front Foot Lands, Dock Them A Run" - Mitchell Starc Shares His Idea To Stop Non-Strikers Leaving Crease Early

The issue of non-strikers leaving their crease too early has been addressed ingeniously by Australia’s fast bowler Mitchell Starc, who proposes that umpires employ on-ground cameras to make “short-run” rulings if the non-striker tries to gain an advantage. 

When Deepti Sharma ran Charlie Dean out at Lord’s last month for backing up at the non-end, striker’s the discussion over the fairness of such a decision and the spirit of cricket was reopened. 

Recently, Starc came under scrutiny for the problem after he casually alerted Jos Buttler to the England batter’s propensity to depart the non-end striker’s before releasing the ball.

Mitchell Starc Wants Non Strikers To Be Penalised For Leaving Crease Early

Mitchell Starc currently believes that there would be “no grey area” if the batting side were to be penalised a run in such a situation. 

“Why not take it out of the hands of interpretation, and make it black-and-white?” Starc told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. “Every time the batter leaves the crease before the front foot lands, dock them a run. There’s no grey area then. 

“And in T20 cricket where runs are so handy at the back end and games can be decided by one, two, three runs all the time, if all of a sudden you get docked 20 runs because a batter’s leaving early, you’re going to stop doing it, aren’t you? 

“It’s harder to do down the levels of cricket, but particularly in international cricket, there are always going to be cameras square-on for the front foot and for the run-outs. So, why not? And if it either makes the batters think about it – or stops it occurring – isn’t that a good thing?” 

I Have Warned Batters Plenty Of Times: Mitchell Starc

According to Starc, umpires who decide on the punishment for the batting side will prevent bowlers from really considering such dismissals. 

“Then there’s no stigma,” Starc said. “It’s taken away from the decision to have to run someone out or think about it. If it’s blatant, it is a different story, but I feel like that is at least completely black-and-white.” 

According to Mitchell Starc, umpires who decide on the punishment for the batting side will prevent bowlers from really considering such dismissals. 

“I’ve warned batters plenty of times, [Buttler] is not the first occasion,” Mitchell Starc said.

“I warned probably seven Kiwi batters in those ODI games in the top end – some were two metres outside their crease. As I said to Jos, I could never see myself doing it [running a non-striker out], but it doesn’t mean that you should then feel free to leave your crease early.” 

Bowlers like R Ashwin, who ran Buttler out in a similar manner in an IPL match in 2019, have been outspoken about supporting the usage of the punishment.

In fact, Buttler was out in a same manner in their ODI series-deciding match at Edgbaston in 2014 against Sri Lanka when Sachitra Senanayake flicked the bails off at the non-end striker’s to catch Buttler short. 

One of the most divisive and contentious issues in cricket in the past was running a non-striker out. In the past, bowlers who have previously practised running non-strikers out—like West Indies’ Keemo Paul during an Under-19 World Cup match, for instance—have backed off from doing so after facing criticism for their choice. 

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The Bowler Is Always Painted As The Villian

Following Deepti’s choice to terminate Dean, the MCC has aggressively worked to de-stigmatize the method of termination by revising its legal texts and highlighting its validity. A bowler is not legally compelled to warn non-strikers before actually shattering the stumps, although some prefer to do so. 

This was accomplished by the MCC in its most recent update by moving the action of a player being run out by the bowler while backing up from Law 41 (which deals with unfair play) to Law 38 (which deals with run-outs). 

“The bowler is always painted as the villain, but it is a legitimate way to dismiss someone, and it is the non-striker who is stealing the ground,” Fraser Stewart, the MCC Laws Manager, had told the Times in March 2022. “It is legitimate, it is a run-out and therefore it should live in the run-out section of the laws.” 

Bowlers have approached the goal of causing a run-out at the non-end striker’s in various ways in the past. One day after travelling in that area, Dean used humour to caution non-strikers without really dismissing them.

Others, most recently Stuart Broad, have stated they wouldn’t want to win games that way.