Angelo Mathews became the first international cricketer to be given ‘timed out’ in the history of the game today (November 6), generating a huge reaction on social media.
Bangladesh appealed the rejection, arguing that Matthews took more than the two minutes allowed under the 2023 ICC Men’s World Cup competition conditions to prepare for the first ball. After Bangladesh’s appeal, referees Marais Erasmus and Richard Illingworth had no choice but to apply the law that Matthews had broken. Despite reaching the middle in time, Matthews’ helmet strap broke while preparing to play his first ball. He signaled to the dressing room for a change, but Bangladesh made an appeal before the change could be announced.
Waqar Younis said in commentary at the time that the sending off was “against the spirit of the game”, before adding: “If there’s something wrong with the helmet, maybe we can wait a few more minutes.” said. After protesting to Erasmus and Shakib Al Hasan, he left the pitch visibly angry and threw his helmet in frustration as he crossed the boundary line.
A debate immediately began online between experts and former players, with differing opinions on whether the incident was actually in keeping with the spirit of the game.
Well, that wasn’t cool ⏰
– Dale Steyn (@DaleSteyn62) 6. 2023 年 11 月
Absolutely pathetic what happened Delhi today! #AngeloMathews
– Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) 6. November 2023
Angelo made his crease then his helmet strap broke. How is that timed out? I’m all for timed out if he doesn’t make his crease but this is ridic. No different then a batsman getting to the crease then taking 3 minutes to face up 🤦🏽♂️#cricketworldcup
– Usman Khawaja (@Uz_Khawaja) 6. November 2023
Shakib did nothing wrong. He appealed for a dismissal which is in the laws. Angelo Mathews would understand there is nothing against the spirit here cos when he was captain in 2014 he also didn’t withdraw the appeal when Jos Buttler was mankaded by Sachithra Senanayake.
– Mother Arshad (@MazherArshad) 6. November 2023
Having watched numerous replays and re-familiarised myself with the rules, my opinion is Angelo Mathews has been hard done by there. He was ready to face, the chin-trap breaking was a freak occurance. Delay was infuriating in real time but understandable upon reflection. #SLvBAN
– Aatif Nawaz (@AatifNawaz) 6. 2023 年 11 月
Opinions differed on whether Shakib and Bangladesh should have appealed the dismissal in the first place or whether they should have waited to repair Matthews’ helmet until he saw his first pitch. If he had waited for Shakib to bowl the first ball, even if he had requested that the helmet be brought out before the next ball, there would have been no result. Shakib is also a spin bowler, so the threat to Matthews’ safety would have been limited.
Just watching the Angelo Mathews dismissal for Timed Out. So he actually made it out to the middle within the 2 mins, was at the crease, THEN broke his his helmet strap so couldn’t receive a ball. Harsh. A lesson to all, to ensure you’re fully kitted up before you get out there.
– Alison Mitchell (@AlisonMitchell) 6. November 2023
What makes the Angelo Mathews timed out dismissal so absurd is that if he had faced one ball, then his chinstrap had broken, no-one would have batted even half an eyelid about him taking a minute or two to fix/replace it before the next ball. A ridiculous dismissal.
– Andy Salzman (@ZaltzCricket) 6. November 2023
Still, he’s made history: the first player in 146 years of international cricket to be given timed out. He had to be ready to face the next ball within two minutes. Bangladesh felt he wasn’t, so they appealed. The umpires upheld it. https://t.co/Gk8z5CMFk7
– Lawrence Booth (@BoothCricket) 6. November 2023
To make Matthew’s undesirable performance even worse, he could be penalized for expressing dissatisfaction while leaving the field.
Angelo Mathews threw away his helmet at the boundary rope in frustration. He is likely to face match fee fine for the incident. #BANvsSL pic.twitter.com/JFfC4mWiFS
– Himanshu Pareek (@Sports_Himanshu) 6. 2023 年 11 月
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