'Stay in the crease. It's not that hard': Mitchell Starc loses his cool at Theunis de Bruyn; watch video

The Boxing Day Test between Australia and South Africa was one-sided traffic through the course of four days at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The hosts were dominant from the word go, first dismissing South Africa for 189 runs and then scoring a mammoth 575 runs.

On the fourth day of the Test, South Africa once again failed to put up a fight and were dismissed for 204. Australia won the fixture by an innings and 182 runs, taking an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-Test series.

Among many noteworthy moments at the MCG was the spat between Mitchell Starc and Theunis de Bruyn. While running down to bowl, the pacer noticed the Proteas batter backing up at the non-striker’s end. The left-arm seamer warned De Bruyn to stay inside the crease.

In the 19th over of South Africa’s second innings, De Bruyn was leaving the non-striker’s end multiple times even before Starc had finished bowling. At first, the Australian pacer did not say anything, even after de Bruyn’s actions made him miss his mark.

The batter, who had already left the crease before Starc reached the line, put his bat at the crease to prevent getting run-out.

👀👀 #AUSvSA pic.twitter.com/xkb0CRj1T1

— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) December 28, 2022

Later, after seeing De Bruyn repeat the action, Starc was furious and did not shy away from verbally warning the Proteas batter. Starc can be heard telling De Bruyn, “Stay in the crease. It’s not that hard. It’s there for a reason mate!”

"Stay in your crease, it's not that hard!"

Part 2 of Starc v de Bruyn 👀 #AUSvSA pic.twitter.com/I6bPWXAOSX

— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) December 29, 2022

A post some moments later showed that the Proteas batter seemed to have learnt his lesson.

Lesson learned for now 😅 #AUSvSA pic.twitter.com/XgRmO3Tlor

— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) December 29, 2022

Starc’s words reignited the debate around ‘Mankad’- the practice of running out the batter at the non-striker’s end if the player goes past the crease before the ball leaves the bowler’s hand. The issue had gained traction earlier this year after India’s Deepti Sharma ran England’s Charlotte Dean out at Lord’s using the move.

Starc subsequently explained his stand talking to Fox Cricket during drinks break. “He was halfway down Punt Rd, wasn’t he? It’s bad enough in white-ball cricket, I don’t know what the need is in red-ball cricket.

“I was just letting him know that if I have to keep my foot behind the line, he can at least keep the bat behind the line.”

Coming back to the Boxing Day Test, former Australian cricketers Adam Gilchrist and Mark Taylor, who were present in the commentary box, talked about the issue of Mankad and noted that Starc might have hurt his finger if he had gone for it. The pacer has been suffering from a finger injury since the start of the game.

In the end, De Bruyn was dismissed by Scott Boland for 28. South Africa’s batting collapsed, with Temba Bavuma being the only player to breach the 50-run mark. The third and final Test between the sides will be played from 4 January at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

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