Angelo Mathews claims the decision which saw him timed out on Monday was “absolutely disgraceful”. The Sri Lanka all-rounder has hit out at Bangladesh and their captain Shakib Al Hasan after a Cricket World Cup first.
Mathews became the first batter in international cricket history to be timed out during Sri Lanka’s match against Bangladesh in Delhi. He was adjudged to not be ready within two minutes of Sadeera Samarawickrama being dismissed.
Mathews got to the crease but realised there was a problem with a strap on his helmet. He called for a replacement to be brought out but Bangladesh were not happy and appealed to the umpires.
The officials on the field gave Shakib the opportunity to withdraw his appeal but he refused to do so. A furious Mathews had to walk off the pitch without facing a ball.
To make matters worse, Sri Lanka were comfortably beaten with almost nine overs of the Bangladesh innings still remaining. And Mathews’ anger carried over into the post-match press conference.
He claimed common sense was not used by the Bangladesh players or the umpires and says it was a “disgrace” that Shakib upheld his appeal. Mathews said: “I had two minutes to get to the crease and get myself ready, which I did. And then it was an equipment malfunction.
“And I don’t know where the common sense went because obviously it’s disgraceful from Shakib and Bangladesh if they want to play cricket like that, obviously stoop down to that level. I think there’s something wrong drastically.
“If I got past my two minutes to get to the crease, and the law says you have to be ready within the two minutes and I was there two minutes 45 or 50 seconds [then it would have been fair]. But I still had, after my helmet broke off, I still had five more seconds to go.
“And the umpires have also said to our coaches that they didn’t see my helmet breaking. I was just asking for my helmet. So 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’s absolutely disgraceful.”
Shakib backed his decision not to withdraw the appeal in an interview after the match. But Mathews says there was a lack of respect for the sport from the Bangladesh players.
He added: “You need to respect people who respect us. They have to respect the game itself.
“We all are ambassadors of this beautiful game, including the umpires. So if you don’t respect and don’t use your common sense, what more can you ask for?”
