Cummins and fellow quick Mitchell Starc accused de Bruyn of “taking the mickey” as he sought to encroach at the non-striker’s end during Australia’s crushing innings defeat of the hapless Proteas.De Bruyn eventually nicked one from Scott Boland to be removed for 28, but not before Starc had told the Proteas’ No.3 that he was straying as Starc entered his delivery stride.“Stay in the crease, it’s not that hard,” Starc told de Bruyn in audio picked up by broadcasters.“The line’s there for a reason.”Cricket: Australian fast bowler Mitch Starc was fired up after declining the opportunity to take a Mankad wicket in their Test against South Africa.Starc has previously warned batters batting up too far but had insisted that he would never actually effect a Mankad, famously named after former Indian batter Vinoo Mankad who effected such a dismissal on Australia’s Bill Brown during a Test in late 1947.However speaking post-match, Starc said that at some point the Aussies would lose patience with de Bruyn’s failure to heed warnings.“I had a word to him last night because he was doing it yesterday. And then he was half way down Punt Road when I was stopped. He said he’s not doing it on purpose. I’ve got to keep my foot behind the line so you could at least keep your bat behind the line,” Starc said.“There’s no need for it. You saw how far down he was.“That’s just absolutely taking the mickey. That’s not just taking off before I bowl, he’s a metre down the wicket. Yeah I gave him a couple of warnings. If he wants to keep doing it I’ll take them [the stumps].”Cummins, sitting alongside Starc, confirmed the Aussies would be willing to run out a non-striker who had been warned several times.“Yep,” Cummins said.“We can warn them a couple of times but if they keep taking the mickey …”It creates an intriguing subplot ahead of the third Test in Sydney, albeit Starc will not have the chance to back up his warning with action after being ruled out of the series finale with a finger injury.Mankading is a contentious issue in cricket, with the tactic long the subject of debate around whether it is in the spirit of the game.The last occurrence of a Mankad in Test cricket was 1979, when Australia’s Alan Hurst ran out Pakistani tailender Sikander Bakht.India’s Deepti Sharma reignited the age-old debate in September when she effected a Mankad on England’s Charlie Dean during a women’s one-day international at Lord’s.An ICC rule tweak in October moved the Mankad dismissal from the section governing “unfair play” to the general provisions around run outs.“Running out a non-striker for backing up too much will now be considered as a regular run out,” the ICC said.The issue even came to a head in a recent Victorian sub-district cricket match, where footage of a St Bernard’s OC bowler Mankading a Kew batter went viral.
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