Angelo Matthews was timed out during Sri Lanka’s clash against Bangladesh in Delhi on Monday in a first in international cricket.
After the fall of Sadeera Samarawickrama’s wicket, Matthew walked in to bat at number six. However, after a timeout, before facing a single delivery, he had to return – a first in international cricket in all formats.
The experienced Sri Lankan all-rounder, who entered late into the World Cup as a replacement player, was surprised when Bangladesh took time to resolve an issue with their helmet because Bangladesh had lodged an appeal.
This incident occurred in the 25th over of the Sri Lankan innings when Shakib Al Hasan got Samarawickrama out, caught by Mahmudullah at slip.
Matthew took his time to get ready and then struggled with his helmet because the strap broke when he was securing it.
As he signaled for a new helmet in the dressing room, Shakib and the Bangladesh team made an “timeout” appeal. The umpires upheld the appeal, leaving Matthew quite disappointed.
Witnesses saw Matthew engaging in deep conversation with Bangladesh and the umpires, but the appeal was not retracted, leading to Matthew’s disappointed return.
Even before he could take his first delivery after removing the strap, it took him more than two minutes, and following the appeal, he had to return to the pavilion.
The fourth official, Adrian Holdstock, explained the dismissal during the innings break and related laws.
Holdstock explained, “Playing in ICC Cricket World Cup situations breaches MCC Laws of Cricket.”
“We have certain protocols, and TV umpires monitor for two minutes. Then he will communicate with on-field umpires and in this case this afternoon, the batsman wasn’t ready to take the delivery within those two minutes. The strap, which became an issue for him, broke.”
When asked if consideration could be given for equipment failure, Holdstock further said that the batsman needs to ensure everything is in place before stepping in.
“I think it’s imperative that you need to make sure you’ve got all your equipment on arriving there because you need to be ready to receive the ball actually within two minutes, not to prepare or to take guard. So technically, within maybe 15 seconds, you should be there to ensure that everything is in place before actually receiving the ball.”
This was the first time in international cricket, be it in men’s or women’s cricket, that a batsman was dismissed according to the “timeout” law.
In 2007, Sourav Ganguly was nearly dismissed in a Test match against South Africa due to a bizarre sequence of events taking him more than six minutes to walk out. At that time, South African captain Graeme Smith decided not to appeal, and Ganguly resumed batting.
Sachin Tendulkar, who was supposed to come in at number four, couldn’t bat as he was off the field during the South African innings. Meanwhile, it’s believed VVS Laxman was in the shower, meaning Ganguly, not prepared for this event, had to come in at number four.
While Matthew’s incident is a first in international cricket, there have been six instances of batsmen having a timeout in first-class cricket.
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