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When Sri Lanka's Angelo Matthews came out to bat against Bangladesh in the 2023 World Cup encounter on Monday, he only had a few seconds to be ready to face the first ball or he'd be timed out.
Mathews wasn't ready to face the first ball in the stipulated time of two minutes, Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan appealed, and the Sri Lankan became the first in international cricket to be timed out.
Angered by being asked to walk back without facing a ball, he called Shakib's decision a "disgrace" after the match. The two teams didn't shake hands after the match and a debate on the 'Spirit of Cricket' raged in the media.
The ICC stipulates a batter to be ready to face the bowler (and not just take his guard) within two minutes of the fall of the previous wicket. The timer starts as soon as the wicket is confirmed and is monitored for every dismissal, in every international match, by the third umpire.
According to ESPNcricinfo, on-field umpire Richard Illingworth told Mathews that he had 30 seconds left to be ready to face the bowler as soon as he walked out. He used about 25 of those to speak to the non-striker Charith Asalanka near the batting crease and return to his guard.
After about one minute 55 seconds, the chin strap of Mathews' helmet broke. Till the time he got a new one, it was around two and a half minutes since the fall of the previous wicket. Here, Shakib appealed and the umpires upheld it.
Nitin Menon told on-field umpires about Mathews' timed-out possibility
Erasmus and Illingworth also knew about the lapsing of the two minutes beforehand too. TV umpire Nitin Menon, as per protocol, had informed them about it but the on-field umpires can't enforce the dismissal unless there's an appeal from the bowling team.
Angelo Matthews expressed his anger and disappointment on social media since the match, which Bangladesh won, courtesy of a Player of the Match performance from Shakib Al Hasan. The veteran Sri Lankan all-rounder has asked the helmet malfunction to be treated as a safety issue, separate from the time he used before trying to wear it.
