Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews became the first international cricketer in history to be timed out at the ICC World Cup on Monday.
Mathews, like all batsmen at the tournament, was required to face his first delivery against Bangladesh no more than two minutes after the fall of the last wicket.
ICC rules differ slightly to the MCC’s official laws, which state that the batter must be ready to go within in three minutes instead of two.
Had the World Cup followed Lord’s rules, Mathews may have been ready to face the next delivery following Sadeera Samarawickrama’s dismissal at 135/4.
However, Bangladeshi fielders saw the batsman was not ready to face Shakib Al Hasan’s next ball within the required two-minute timeframe and thus called for timed out. The decision was ultimately upheld by the on-field umpires.
Angelo Mathews became the first international cricketer ever to be timed out on Monday
Mathews’ helmet broke in chaotic circumstances and he was unable to secure a new one before his two-minute timeframe ran out. Bangladesh’s appeal was then upheld by the umpires
Mathews, who has now become the first player in 146 years of international cricket to fall to the unique dismissal, was about to face Al Hasan’s next ball when the strap on his helmet broke.
The 35-year-old was subsequently forced to call for another helmet and did not leave enough time for the fielders to find him a replacement.
Mathews appeared to reason with Al Hasan that the delay only happened because of his helmet breaking, but the captain refused to reverse his appeal.
Bangladesh will feel the batsman walked out leisurely and was unaware of the time he was taking ahead of the helmet malfunction.
The Sri Lanka No 6 joined Charith Asalanka at the crease with his side on 135/4 off 24.2 overs.
The cricketer appeared to reason with the umpires and Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan
But after he was dismissed for naught without even facing a ball, Sri Lanka were forced to send out No 7 Dhananjaya de Silva instantaneously.
The dismissal could prove a crucial blow for Sri Lanka in their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages, with the nation four points behind fourth-placed New Zealand ahead of the World Cup clash.
The most recent example of a batsman nearly being timed out in an international match was back in 2006, when India legend Sachin Tendulkar was late arriving to the crease against South Africa.
Amid confusion over whether Tendulkar was permitted to bat, a six-minute delay had passed before Sourav Ganguly was sent out in the batsman’s place, but South Africa captain Graeme Smith chose not to appeal.
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