Its disgraceful from Shakib and Bangladesh: Angelo Mathews

A big controversy arose yesterday (November 6) when Sri Lankan batter Angelo Mathews was given ‘timed out’ by the on-field umpire Marais Erasmus after Bangladeshi skipper Shakib Al Hasan appealed for it. Mathews, in his defence, maintained the position that he was there on the crease within the stipulated time of 120 seconds, which is given to the next batter to get themselves ready for facing the bowlers. But the chinstrap of his helmet came off at the wrong time, and in trying to adjust that and call for a new helmet, he was given ‘timed out’. 

This led to a big furore that saw both Hasan and Mathews come out all guns blazing during the post-match presentation, and that continued into the press conference as well. Angelo Mathews was there for the presser and straightaway maintained the position that “I haven't done anything wrong. I had two minutes to get to the crease and get myself ready, which I did. And then it was an equipment malfunction.”

The Lankan all-rounder was quite vehement in his criticism of the opposition as he accused the Bangladeshi skipper and his team of lacking common sense and being disgraceful. “I don't know where the common sense went because obviously it's obviously disgraceful from Shakib and Bangladesh if they want to play cricket like that obviously stooped down to that level…”. 

He continued, “I think there's something wrong drastically because - if I got late if I got past my two minutes to get to the crease and in the law says you have to be ready within the two minutes, and I was there two minutes 45 or 50 seconds - I still had after my helmet broke off, I still had five more seconds to go. And the umpires also have said to our coaches that they didn't see my helmet breaking. I mean, I was just asking for my helmet.”

Also read - Why was Angelo Mathews "timed out"?

Mathews didn’t budge from his position and maintained that “it was just pure common sense. I'm not talking about mankading or obstructing the field here. This is just pure common sense and bringing the game into disrepute. It is absolutely disgraceful.”

After the game was over, and Sri Lanka were defeated by 3 wickets, skipper Kusal Mendis took his team straight to the dressing room without doing the customary handshakes with the opposition. No matter how tense the situation gets on the field, shaking the hands of the opposition after the game and applauding them for their efforts on the field is part of cricket’s tradition and symbolic of playing the game in ‘right spirits’. This was criticised by Sri Lankan journalists as well. 

When asked about the same, Mathews again stressed that Bangladesh brought disrepute to the game by their ‘non-sensical action’. “...you need to respect people who respect us. It doesn't mean that - they have to respect the game itself. I mean, we all are ambassadors of this beautiful game, including the umpires. So then, if you don't respect and if you don't use your common sense, what more can you ask for?”

Mathews didn’t spare the Umpires as well and said that he’s in “absolute shock”, when asked who was at fault in that decision if he was on the right side. 

“...if I haven't done anything wrong, whose fault is it? Well, as I said, it's a technicality which needs to be discussed because it's a World Cup game and what happens if this happens in the last over when you have three or four runs to get in the last wicket. I mean, it's just pure common sense. I wasn't trying to waste time. I wasn't trying to get advantage of anything. It was just pure equipment malfunction. And it just happened for the very first time in my career. And I'm absolutely shocked.”

Mathews also said that he had all the video evidence to prove that he was ready to face the ball well within the stipulated time, and that a statement will be released at some point detailing that. 

“We have video evidence. We will put out a statement later on. We have video evidence, footage, everything was looked. I'm not just coming and saying things here. I'm talking with proof.”

The Lankan all-rounder also indicated that the Umpires weren’t ready to budge from their position despite his equipment malfunction being a potential safety issue. “...we talk about safety of the players - you guys tell me if It's right for me to take my guard without my helmet on? It's just pure common sense.”

There hasn’t been any statement from the Sri Lankan cricket team about the incident so far, but Mathews did go on the microblogging site X to reply on an ICC post with a screenshot that contained the timestamp of the dismissal and his arrival at the crease. 

Earlier, Fourth Umpire Adrian Holdstock was asked to clarify the ICC rules on the dismissal and if equipment malfunction caused the delay for Mathews. Holdstock firmly stated that “the batter wasn’t ready to face the ball within those two minutes, even before the strap became an issue for him.” 

When Mathews was asked about his response to the fourth umpire’s statement, he said that he was unable to understand the logic behind it. “All of you guys heard, yeah? It's quite laughable, I think. It's our responsibility, yes. If I went without a helmet to bat to a fast bowler, then it's my responsibility, obviously. But something coming off, some equipment coming off, do you really think I would know it will come off? I don't understand the logic behind what he has said.”

Both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are officially out of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.