'Mankading' no longer unfair play; saliva to shine the ball banned: MCC

This combination of file pictures shows (L) Jos Buttler walking back to the pavilion after he was dismissed by Ravichandran Ashwin during the 2019 Indian Premier League. Pic/ AFP

The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) on Wednesday approved new laws, which will remove the 'Mankad' method of dismissing batters from those listed under unfair play. The MCC also banned the use of saliva to shine the cricket ball.

The far-reaching rules will come into effect from October 2022.

The MCC said in a statement that the game had evolved and the MCC Laws sub-committee had suggested changes for the 2022 Code, "which were subsequently approved at the Club's Main Committee meeting last week."

According to MCC, the law on running out the non-striker -- commonly called the "Mankad" dismissal which involves a bowler choosing to whip off the bails when a non-striker steps out of the crease instead of completing his delivery to the batter on strike -- will now not be termed 'unfair play'.

"Law 41.16 -- running out the non-striker -- has been moved from Law 41 (Unfair play) to Law 38 (Run out). The wording of the Law remains the same," said the MCC in a statement.

It also said that applying saliva to the ball was no longer permitted as research had found that "it(applying saliva) had little or no impact on the amount of swing the bowlers were getting".

"Law 41.3 -- No saliva: 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. MCC's research found that this had little or no impact on the amount of swing the bowlers were getting. Players were using sweat to polish the ball, and this was equally effective.

"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," said the MCC statement.

The MCC said that while the amendments are being announced now, they will not come into force until October.

"In the intervening time the relevant materials will be updated by MCC to assist with umpire and official training on a global basis. The changes are intended to shape the game of cricket as it should be played," it added.

MCC Laws Manager, Fraser Stewart, said, "Since the publication of the 2017 Code of the Laws of Cricket, the game has changed in numerous ways. The second edition of that Code, published in 2019, was mostly clarification and minor amendments, but the 2022 Code makes some rather bigger changes, from the way we talk about cricket to the way it's played.

"It is important that we announce these changes now as part of the Club's global commitment to the game, giving officials from all over the world the chance to learn under the new Code ahead of the Laws coming into force in October," he said.

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