From: mohan@theta.mel.dms.CSIRO.AU (Mohan Krishnamoorthy)
Subject: Re: Kirsten / Kapil Dev
Keywords: Run-out
Organization: CSIRO, Div. of Mathematics & Statistics, Melbourne, Vic., AUSTRALI
Date: Wed, 23 Dec 1992 05:55:54 GMT

In article <pavenant.25.724029608@dos-lan.cs.up.ac.za> pavenant@dos-lan.cs.up.ac.za (Paul Avenant) writes:

> I agree that going strictly according to the letter of the law, there is no 
> reason why Kapil could not run out, but in this case I strongly disagree 
> that it was in keeping with the spirit of the game. It was very early in the 
> match, and Kirsten was obviously not trying to steal a run. Dev was already 
> into his delivery stride, when he stopped it, and ran him out.

I don't see your point AT ALL.  Let me see...

Kapil was well within the rules when he ran Kirsten out.  Yet, you disagree.
And pray why?

. it was not in "the spirit of the game"
  
  Says _who_?

. it was early in the match

  So, it would have been acceptable, had it been done in over 43?  Or,
  perhaps it ought to have been 44, or 45, or 46, or 47, or...

. Kirsten wasn't trying to steal a run
 
  Oh yeah!  He really liked the weather and thought he might just take a
  casual stroll in the park?  Kirsten is no idiot.  He knows the rules
  of the game and is a seasoned pro himself.  Surely, he must know that
  it is illegal to steal a run!
 
There are MANY established laws in todays' cricket that protect weak and
wimpish batsmen (for example the 1-bouncer-an-over-per-batsman rule).  As
if that in itself were not enough, we have these unwritten codes of
ethical behaviour!  If Mankading is a grey area in cricket, it ought to
be sewn up in strict code:  

       If you try to steal a run and the bowler runs you out, you are OUT!  

Why this pussyfooting with a warning!  Soon, wimps all over the place
will want a warning before a bouncer or a leg cutter or a googly is about
to be bowled.  Or, should bowlers ask for a warning before the batsman
decides to hit the next ball for a four or a six!

And whats this namby-pamby idea of being warned in EVERY game!  This is
more ridiculous than the idea of a warning AT ALL!  For heaven's sake,
the previous game was played barely two days earlier.  Is Kirsten's
memory so bad that it needs to be joggled so frequently?

I have played cricket in India and have been run out (and have run bats
out) on quite a few occasions when trying to steal a run -- and _all_ of
those were without an initial warning.  It is an accepted norm out there
because the more acceptable code out there suggests:

If you try and steal a run, do so if you can get away with it.  

As simple and straightforward as:

If you want to slash at a ball outside of offstump, do so if you can get
   away with it!

Then suddenly, in a game I played in England when I was there, I was
warned by the bowler for trying to steal a run (I was the non striker). 
I just thought to myself, "Hell, that was awfully jolly polite of him",
and got on with the game.  Only later did I learn that it is actually
norm to warn!  I think it is a silly rule (only, it really ain't a rule
at all).

> I firmly believe that if India had scored 250 and were 1 - 0 up in the serie 
> the idea would not even have entered Kapil's mind.

That issue is totally irrelevant.  Moreover, if a team were 1-0 up in
the series, it probably will not have been India anyway ;-) :-) 

> As far as I can remember it was within the laws of cricket when one of the 
> Chappel brothers bolwed the last ball under-arm along the ground, to ensure 
> victore in that game (few years back). If it was within the law (which I 
> assume to be so), I think that noone can disagree that it is still a pretty 
> lousy (unsportmanlike) thing to do. The same holds for the run-out.

Oh, I'm sure the Chappel you refer to (Greg, who instructed his brother
Trevor to do the deed) didn't think so.  For he sits on the Ch-9 cricket
team, talking pretty frequently about sportsmanship and stuff like that.
He must have thought that was the right (sportsmanlike) thing to do ;-)

That again is a case of a loose law.  Correct me if I am wrong, but I
don't think underarm bowling is illegal in today's game.  It is just not
the `done thing'.  Cricket needs to wake up and tighten up.

> I think Kirsten should learn from this, and concentrate harder (as a player 
> at this level should do in any case). Hopefully he won't make the same 
> mistake again.

Well, IMO if his stealing (and getting caught with his pants down) was
a `mistake', the fact that he stood there, arguing his case (Mamma, he
didn't warn me!  Baaaaah!) was even worse.
 
> Kapil has achieved very little, lost some fans, and India still were beaten 
> convincingly. Maybe he should concentrate more on his bowling and batting, 

Again, these (apart from the fact that India were beaten) are your
opinions.  I read a reasonably lengthy article in `The Age', Melbourne,
in which the author wrote about the silly `rule' and the manner in which
silly and incapable batsmen exploit it to the hilt.

An aside:  Rahul Mankad, son of Vinoo Mankad (of Mankading fame) is in
	   Australia.  He has immigrated here recently and was featured
	   in the above article I alluded to.  Also interviewed in this
	   article was the non-striker at the time when Mankad Mankaded.
	   (whose name I forget suddenly).  He said that, at no time did
	   he bear a grudge against Mankad for Mankading.  He asked
	   Mankad out for a beer after the game, but the offer was
	   declined by the tee-totaller.  They just shook hands and got
	   on with the game.

> and leave the pettiness to school children. His play-acting (about the 
> alledged hitting by Wessels which was later dismissed by Clive Loyd - the 
> match umpire) smells of BAD LOSER.

No!  It was dismissed by CL for lack of substantial evidence.  Get wise!
In any case, I thought Kirsten was the school kid who ran to mamma and
complained that he was spotted with his pants down!

> Having said all this - The tour so far has produced some good cricket, and I 
> am sure that more will follow. I suggest that this incident be forgotten 
> now, and that it not be allowed to overshadow a great tour.
 
Well said.  As a footnote:

Add to the cricket rules -- If you are run out, when trying to steal a
                            run, you are run out!

/Mohan 

-------
Mohan Krishnamoorthy, CSIRO, Division of Maths and Stats,
Private Bag 10, Clayton, Melbourne, VIC 3168, Australia.
Phone: (Off) +61 3 542 2263;  (Res): +61 3 543 4248
Fax:   +61 3 542 2474; 	      email: mohan@mel.dms.CSIRO.AU
Newsgroups: rec.sport.cricket