Shakib Al Hasan’s decision to appeal for a ‘time-out’ against Angelo Mathews, which resulted in Mathews being declared ‘timed-out,’ has ignited a spirited debate about the spirit of cricket.
In a remarkable turn of events during the 2023 World Cup match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, veteran Sri Lankan all-rounder Angelo Mathews became the first player in the history of international cricket to be dismissed due to a ‘timed-out’ appeal made by Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan.
The incident unfolded during the 25th over of the Sri Lankan innings. Shakib had just dismissed Sadeera Samarawickrama, who had scored 41 runs in 42 balls. Mathews, entering the crease at No. 6, took some time to get ready. Once at the crease, he realized that the chin strap on his helmet was broken. Mathews gestured to the Sri Lankan dressing room for a new helmet. While this was happening, Shakib approached the umpire, Marais Erasmus, with a smile and, as Erasmus consulted with his colleague, Shakib raised his hands and quietly asked, “How was that? Officially, I am asking.” The umpires then decided to uphold the appeal, leading to a lengthy discussion between Mathews, the umpires, and the Bangladesh players. Ultimately, Mathews left the field, looking bewildered.
Bangladesh’s bowling coach and former South African bowling great, Allan Donald, watched the incident unfold from the sidelines and later admitted that he was “shocked” by Shakib’s decision. “I think it [the timed-out dismissal] really overshadowed a clinical performance by Bangladesh. I’m still a bit shocked about it, to be honest. It’s based on my personal values as a person and a cricketer,” Donald shared with CricBlog.Net.
Donald also expressed his desire to intervene in the situation, saying, “I wanted to run onto the field and say enough is enough. We don’t stand for this. We are not that kind of team.” However, he acknowledged his limited authority in the matter, as he is not the head coach.
Following the incident, the match between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka became heated, with Sri Lanka displaying a combative attitude throughout Bangladesh’s innings. Despite Bangladesh’s victory, Sri Lanka refused to shake hands after the match, which was not surprising to Donald. He commented, “We didn’t shake hands [with Sri Lanka], and I knew what was going to come after Sri Lanka had fielded… it was just going to be a very, very cold reception, and that’s exactly what happened.”
Donald expressed his disappointment with the dismissal, acknowledging Shakib’s perspective that he was doing everything to win. However, Donald’s disapproval was evident as he mentioned, “You can sense in my voice that I don’t like it… I don’t like that sort of thing. It was really difficult to watch one of Sri Lanka’s all-time greats walking off the field without facing a single ball, dismissed for a time violation.