Australia v South Africa: Mankad debate ignited by Mitch Starc’s run in with Theunis de Bruyn

To Mankad or not? Cricket’s eternal debate is making headines again after Mitch Starc twice warned a South African batter to stay put in Melbourne. Have your say here.

Bill Brown, the Australian batsman who was the original Mankad victim, would not have held it against Mitchell Starc had he pulled cricket’s most controversial trigger.

The cricket world held its breath as Mitchell Starc twice pulled up in his run-up and threatened to remove the bails in the second Test when batsman Theunis de Bruyn wandered out of his ground.

Starc decided not to effect the dismissal but Indian all-rounder Vinoo Mankad had no such reservations when he ran out Brown twice on India’s 1947-48 Australian tour, once in a tour game and then in the second Test.

Mitch Starc was not impressed by Theunis de Bruyn (right) wandering out of his crease.

“He (Bill Brown) blamed himself,’’ a Brown family member said on Friday. “He always prided himself on backing up but he went too far.

“Vinoo Mankad warned him. He did not blame Vinoo and would not have blamed Starc had he done the deed.’’

Starc has always said he would never take the bails off but he appears to be wavering.

Captain Pat Cummins, sitting beside Starc in the press conference, confirmed he would have no problem with a Mankad.

The much loved Brown, warmly regarded by the likes of Greg Chappell and Steve Waugh, died in Brisbane in 2008 aged 95.

Much as is the case today, the Mankad decision caused a sharp division among Australian fans in 1948.

Letters to the editor to major newspapers were divided between those who thought it was a breach of the spirit of cricket and those, including Don Bradman, who felt Mankad did nothing wrong.

Cricket legend Bill Brown in 2007.

Brown ended up feeling sorry for the man who dismissed him

“I tried to settle the issue by going to Vinoo’s hotel and asking him down for a drink,’’ Brown told me.

“He said “Bill, I won’t come down but I will promise you this … I will never do it again.’’

Brown used to joke that when he returned home after one of his two Mankad’s his wife Barbara said to him “what were you thinking?’’ and he replied “that was the problem … I wasn’t.’’

On a more serious note, he felt years of being programmed to back up smartly had been responsible for programming his reflexes.

The affair had a fascinating post script in the late 1990s when Brown heard a knock at the door of his house in Yalumba St, Carseldine in Brisbane and it was Mankad’s son Ashok.

Former Test batsman Ashok made a pilgrimage to the Brown house to ensure there were no hard feelings and was warmly received over a cup of coffee and scones.

“I’m glad it happened,’’ Brown said. “It was the perfect note to finish on.’’

Opening batsmen Sid Barnes and Bill Brown walk out to bat in 1948.

BRUTAL TRUTH ABOUT ‘BROKEN’ PROTEAS

Two provocative questions are hanging in the air after Australia’s decimation of a shambolic South Africa.

Are Australia really THAT good? Are South Africa really THAT bad?

First, the chastening truth.

Once mighty South Africa are the saddest story in international cricket, a Test nation in a tailspin from which they are unlikely to ever recover, represented by a fractured group with little cohesion and even less team spirit.

As evidenced by two comical run outs, it’s every man for himself in a sinking ship and there’s water streaming through the portholes.

South Africa's Anrich Nortje reacts during the Boxing Day Test. Picture: AFP

The contrast in the press conferences was stark and revealing.

Australian captain Pat Cummins was on about mateship and team bonding while South African skipper Dean Elgar was having to defend a broken team playing in a broken system.

He knows it’s broken. By simply answering that he had to bite his lip when asked about South Africa’s cricket system said more than any answer he could have provided.

Cummins called the Australian side the best of his era and the suspicion is this excellent Australian team will have a little window where it will be the best side Australia has fielded since Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath retired together in 2007.

But to snatch that ranking it will need to beat India in India for the second time in 53 years next year or England in England for the first time in 21 years.

Australia's Travis Head (C) celebrates with teammates – but bigger challenges await. Picture: AFP

Climbing one out of those two high mountains would be a definitive punchline to the careers of a long-serving group who have given strong service for a decade.

Teams get their glory at home but the true measure of what they are worth comes offshore.

This Australian team has beaten Pakistan in Pakistan and drawn with Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka this year. It’s a solid start but very much the entree.

The championship rounds arrive next year.

The high water mark for Australian teams since Warne’s retirement was in 2013 when Mitchell Johnson ran amok with one of the most explosive form surges in the game’s history.

You could make an argument that that team – which simply destroyed England in Australia then beat South Africa in South Africa – would have been a match for any team simply for Johnson’s dam-busting presence.

There were few more fearsome sights in Test cricket than a fired-up Mitchell Johnson. Picture: Sarah Reed

This Australian team has no Johnson – and David Warner and Steve Smith may have been closer to their prime back then – but they have all bases covered.

What is beyond dispute is that there are some nations in Test cricket (Australia, England, India) which are still prioritising the long form of the game while there are others (South Africa and the West Indies) who are looking in other directions and consequently are becoming a fading shadow of what they were.

Test cricket requires absolute focus – once boards and players fade into drift mode it’s a bit like a drama company being half committed to a Shakespearean play. Disaster beckons.

Standby for more of these landslide results where the richest nations ruthlessly shoot down the ones who are letting the five day game slide.

Australia deserve credit for being ruthlessly on song this summer.

Pat Cummins has led Australia to a successful 2022 – and hopes to go even bigger over the next 12 months. Picture: Getty

The have finished a year of sustained excellence with seven wins, three draws and a solitary loss to Sri Lanka from 11 Tests.

Cummins’ calm and measured captaincy has brought a cool consistency to the team.

Australia simply belted teams this year but they did it by 1000 cuts rather than clobber them over the head as England are doing. No Australian winning margin was less than 115 runs or six wickets.

But the ultimate rating as a Test team will be decided by three showdowns which have us drooling already.

Four Tests in India from February, the world Test championship in England and five Tests in six weeks in England for the Ashes make 2023 a year which will define this team.

It sounds fanciful to think that Australia could match strides with India in India given India have won their last two series in Australia.

But the team is happy and high in the water. You never know.