Australian pacer Mitchell Starc and Bangladesh all-rounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz were involved in a tense exchange late on the second day of the first Test in Darwin on Friday. Starc objected to Mehidy running
through the protected area of the pitch during his follow-through, and the duo exchanged a few words, with umpire Kumar Dharmasena being forced to calm things down.
The incident occurred during the 103rd over of Bangladesh’s first innings, when Mehidy pushed a wide ball towards point and hurried through for a single. While completing the run, Mehidy ran through the central section of the pitch. Starc immediately confronted the batter, with the stump microphone picking up his words: “It’s my follow-through, not your follow-through. Get off the wicket.”
Mehidy appeared to explain that he had been watching the ball and had not noticed Starc in his path. Dharmasena stepped in and appeared to warn him about running on the protected area.
Under the Laws of Cricket, a batter can be warned for causing deliberate or avoidable damage to the protected area. A second such offence in the same innings after a first-and-final warning can result in the runs being disallowed and five penalty runs being awarded to the fielding side.
But here, the single was allowed to stand, and no penalty was imposed.
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting, who was on commentary, felt Mehidy had not deliberately damaged the pitch, noting that the batter was focused on the ball and only realised where he was running after looking up.
Starc’s frustrations might have stemmed from his team’s position in the match. At Stumps, Bangladesh were 351/6, leading by 153 runs. Starc bowled the second-highest number of overs in the day, 21, taking two wickets for 68 runs. He went past Kapil Dev to become the 11th-highest wicket-taker in the format.
