World Cup: Angelo Mathews becomes the first player to be dismissed 'timed out' in international cricket

Sri Lanka all-rounder Angelo Mathews officially called timed out against Bangladesh in the ongoing World Cup 2023 at Arun Jaitley stadium in Delhi on Monday.

New Delhi:Veteran Sri Lanka all-rounder Angelo Mathews, who walked into bat at number six, on Monday became the first player to be officially declared 'Timed Out' in international cricket, both in men's and women's cricket history.

He was given 'Timed Out' against Bangladesh in the ongoing World Cup 2023 at Arun Jaitley stadium in New Delhi. It has happened only six times before in any format, all in first-class cricket. Thus Matthews, who made a late entry to the ongoing World Cup 2023 as a replacement, walked back to the dressing room without facing a ball.

The incident took place in the 25th over of the Sri Lanka innings when rival skipper and all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan had just dismissed Sadeera Samarawickrama, who was caught by Mahmudullah near the rope.

Angelo Mathews helmet strap was not working when he walked out to bat and was struggling to take guard. He asked for another helmet which needed the extra time. Someone from the Sri Lanka dugout brought him a replacement helmet but Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan decided to appeal and the on-field umpires couldn't do anything about it other than declaring him out as per the rules.

As per the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 playing conditions pertaining to "timed out": "40.1.1 After the fall of a wicket or the retirement of a batter, the incoming batter must, unless Time has been called, be ready to receive the ball, or for the other batter to be ready to receive the next ball within 2 minutes of the dismissal or retirement. If this requirement is not met, the incoming batter will be out, Timed out."

With Angelo Mathews taking over two minutes to face his first ball even before the strap came off, he had to be sent back to the pavilion following the appeal.

A distraught Angelo Mathews made his point there and even asked Shakib Al Hasan to withdraw his appeal but Shakib refused to withdraw the appeal. Mathews threw his helmet away in disappointment as he walked back to the dressing room. Sri Lankan skipper Kusal Mendis was seen talking to the Bangladesh coach and former Sri Lanka player Chandika Hathurusinghe about the incident.

The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) rule states, "After the fall of a wicket or the retirement of a batter, the incoming batter must unless Time has been called, be ready to receive the ball, or for the other batter to be ready to receive the next ball within three minutes of the dismissal or retirement. If this requirement is not met, the incoming batter will be out, Timed out."

The fourth official, Adrian Holdstock, explained the dismissal and the laws pertaining to it during the innings break. "The ICC World Cup playing conditions supersede the MCC laws of cricket," Holdstock explained to the International Cricket Council (ICC) website.

"We have certain protocols and the TV umpire monitors the two minutes. He will then relay the message through to the on-field umpires and in the instance this afternoon, the batter wasn't ready to receive the ball within those two minutes even before the strap, what became an issue for him, [broke]," Holdstock explained further.

When asked whether equipment failure could have been considered, Holdstock explained further that the batter had to ensure all of it was proper before stepping in.

"I think you need to make sure that you have all your equipment in place in order to make sure you get here because you actually have to be ready to receive the ball in within two minutes, not ready to prepare or take your guard. So technically you should be there within maybe 15 seconds to make sure all those things are in place before you actually receive the ball," the official added.

In 2007, former India skipper and former BCCI President Sourav Ganguly was nearly timed out in a Test match against South Africa after he took more than six minutes to step out following a bizarre sequence of events. Then South Africa skipper Graeme Smith decided not to appeal and Ganguly went on to bat.

Cricketing icon Sachin Tendulkar, who was slotted to come in at No.4, couldn’t bat yet, because he had been off the field during South Africa’s innings. Former India batter VVS Laxman, meanwhile, was believed to be in the shower which meant Ganguly, who was unprepared for the event, had to rush out at No.4.