Angelo Mathews became the first international cricketer to be given ‘timed out’ in the history of the game today (November 6), generating a huge reaction on social media.

Bangladesh appealed for the dismissal after Mathews took more than the two minutes stipulated in the ICC 2023 Men’s World Cup playing conditions to be ready to face his first ball. Following Bangladesh’s appeal, umpires Marais Erasmus and Richard Illingworth had no choice but to apply the law, which Mathews was in breach of. Although he had arrived to the middle with time to spare, Mathews’ helmet strap broke as he prepared to face his first ball. He signalled to the dressing room for a change but before it could be brought out, Bangladesh had launched their appeal.

Speaking on commentary at the time, Waqar Younis stated that the dismissal was “against the spirit of the game” before saying “if there was something wrong with the helmet you can maybe give an extra couple of minutes”. Mathews remonstrated briefly with Erasmus and Shakib Al Hasan before walking off the field looking visibly angry, hurling his helmet in frustration as he crossed the boundary line.

Discourse immediately broke out online from pundits and ex-players, with opinion split over whether the incident was in fact within the spirit of the game.

Well, that wasn’t cool ⏰

— Dale Steyn (@DaleSteyn62) November 6, 2023

Absolutely pathetic what happened Delhi today! #AngeloMathews

— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) November 6, 2023

Angelo made his crease then his helmet strap broke. How is that timed out? I’m all for timed out if he doesn’t make his crease but this is ridic. No different then a batsman getting to the crease then taking 3 minutes to face up 🤦🏽‍♂️#cricketworldcup

— Usman Khawaja (@Uz_Khawaja) November 6, 2023

Shakib did nothing wrong. He appealed for a dismissal which is in the laws. Angelo Mathews would understand there is nothing against the spirit here cos when he was captain in 2014 he also didn’t withdraw the appeal when Jos Buttler was mankaded by Sachithra Senanayake.

— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) November 6, 2023

Having watched numerous replays and re-familiarised myself with the rules, my opinion is Angelo Mathews has been hard done by there. He was ready to face, the chin-trap breaking was a freak occurance. Delay was infuriating in real time but understandable upon reflection. #SLvBAN

— Aatif Nawaz (@AatifNawaz) November 6, 2023

There were mixed opinions over whether Shakib and Bangladesh should have appeal for the dismissal at all, or whether Mathews should have waited to fix his helmet until after he faced his first ball. Had he waited for Shakib to bowl his first ball, there would have been no repercussions for asking for a helmet to be brought out before the next. Given Shakib is also a spin bowler, there would have been limited danger to Mathews’ safety.

Just watching the Angelo Mathews dismissal for Timed Out. So he actually made it out to the middle within the 2 mins, was at the crease, THEN broke his his helmet strap so couldn’t receive a ball. Harsh. A lesson to all, to ensure you’re fully kitted up before you get out there.

— Alison Mitchell (@AlisonMitchell) November 6, 2023

What makes the Angelo Mathews timed out dismissal so absurd is that if he had faced one ball, then his chinstrap had broken, no-one would have batted even half an eyelid about him taking a minute or two to fix/replace it before the next ball. A ridiculous dismissal.

— Andy Zaltzman (@ZaltzCricket) November 6, 2023

Still, he’s made history: the first player in 146 years of international cricket to be given timed out. He had to be ready to face the next ball within two minutes. Bangladesh felt he wasn’t, so they appealed. The umpires upheld it. https://t.co/Gk8z5CMFk7

— Lawrence Booth (@BoothCricket) November 6, 2023

To add insult to Mathews unwanted record, he could be facing punishment for expressing his frustration when he left the field.

Angelo Mathews threw away his helmet at the boundary rope in frustration. He is likely to face match fee fine for the incident. #BANvsSL pic.twitter.com/JFfC4mWiFS

— Himanshu Pareek (@Sports_Himanshu) November 6, 2023

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