Sport Today

1. The Pitchout. The ball is pitched, but wide of the batter in order
to allow the catcher to leave his normal crouch, and receive the ball
in a way which optimizes his chances of throwing the runner out. There
really isn't a cricket equivalent of this play.

2. The pickoff. Arguably, this is like the mankad situation. The pitcher
delivers the ball to the base where the runner has just left, in the
hopes that he will not be able to return safely, and that the fielder
covering will easily throw the runner out at the base he's trying to
steal.

3. The hidden-ball trick. When it is suspected that a runner is not
particularly alert, the fielder covering the base the runner occupies
hides the ball in his glove, and takes his position on the base. The
pitcher, (who cannot take his position on the mound without the ball -
a rule formulated specifically to discourage the hidden ball trick)
must attempt to nonchalantly hover near the mound, giving perhaps the
odd adjustment to his glove, using the rosin bag, cleaning out his
spikes, etc., so that if the runner takes his lead off the base in
the normal rythm of the game, the fielder simply tags him out. There
are not many things more embarassing in organized sport than a major
league baseball player who has been put out in this way, and in truth
this ruse is rarely attempted; I would guess it's tried in about
one game out of every two hundred major league games. I can't imagine
that it works more than once in ten attempts, but it's not unheard of.

Now I know that exact parallels between cricket and baseball probably
can't be drawn, but I wonder if being run out a la mankad doesn't
fell exactly the same as falling for the hidden ball trick.

Later,
Andrew Mullhaupt

I would veture to say what offended so many people about
the underarm bowling was that, although it might be
_legal_ it was not "cricket". Such bending of the rules or
trickery was (at least in the past) not considered
appropriate behaviour. Sadly, some people either didn't
see it that way, or just seemed to buy the argument that
loopholes are made to be exploited. Sigh...

                        - peterd

        Re "mankading"*:  today's "Independent" has a fine action
picture of Gatting and Gooch together on the field.  Gooch is fielding
at [I assume] mid on, and striding purposefully towards the batsman.
Gatting is the non-striking batsman, and is striding similarly.  The
bowler is also just in shot, and has just started his delivery stride.
Gatting is several inches outside his crease, and was presumably two or
three feet up and totally stranded when the ball was delivered.  I hope
bowlers everywhere have taken note!

        * A new term to me, though being run out while backing up is as
old as cricket.  Local hero Derek Randall suffered this fate in NZ not
so long ago in a well-reported incident.

--
Andy Walker, Maths Dept., Nott'm Univ., UK.