Mitchell Starc spares Jos Buttler’s blushes and refuses to do a ‘Mankad’ in T20 warm up

It may not feel quite right that an England-Australia game should become a bastion of sportsmanship, but Mitchell Starc echoed Jos Buttler’s example on Friday when he decided not to perform another ‘Mankad’.

Just as the England captain refused to appeal Matthew Wade’s blatant obstruction in Perth, Starc decided not to send Buttler out in the early stages of what became a wet and cold wipeout of the third Twenty20 international.

Starc told Buttler he slipped too far from his stellar unbeaten 65 from 41 balls early on, forcing the England captain, who was the victim of a ‘Mankad’ by Indian Ravi Ashwin, to be absolutely sure he left. his territory not too early.

That prevented a controversial end to a series in which England would surely have completed their first whitewash in a multi-match series in Australia had Canberra not resembled Durham in April and the elements had the final say.

By this time England had reached 112 for two in what became 12 overs, Ben Stokes showed welcome fluency in his unbeaten 17 off 10 balls, before Chris Woakes took wickets with the first two balls of the Australian answer and then a third in 11 balls as they reached 30 for three in what became a DRS target of 130. Rain returned with England well on top and seven more balls to be delivered to form a result.

It was refreshing that neither Woakes nor Australian captain Aaron Finch wanted a repeat of the controversial scenes at the end of the England women’s match against India at Lord’s, when Deepti Sharma chased Charlie Dean after him.

“In my view, this was the best way to go about it,” Woakes said. “Personally I wouldn’t scare anyone away like that, or Mankad, if you want to call it that, but I have no problem warning boys.”

Buttler was out of his fold (L) but withdrew (R) after being warned by the bowler

Deepti Sharma caused controversy by executing a Mankad during a match against England last month and the issue is likely to reoccur at the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia

Finch agreed, saying, “I think if guys get a warning then it’s fair after that, but I’m personally not a big fan of that kind of layoff.”

Neither the rain nor the bitter cold could spoil England’s satisfaction at a job well done here by winning the series 2-0 and failing yesterday’s better as they work their way up to next week’s World Cup opener against Afghanistan in Perth.

And last but not least one of the reasons for satisfaction was the performance of Woakes who finished three for four in two overs of a 12-over game and might have put himself in the fight for a place in England’s first-choice World Cup. XI.

“Tonight won’t have hurt my chances, but at the same time I think we’re in such a good place as a team that we could go with just about anyone of our 15,” said Woakes, who missed all summer with a knee. injury. “Hopefully I’ve done enough to get a nod.”