On Monday (November 6) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, during the first innings of Bangladesh vs. Sri Lanka in the World Cup, Angelo Mathews was dismissed ‘timed out’, a first in international cricket.
Angelo Mathews was timed out in the 25th over of the first innings after a successful appeal by opposition captain Shakib Al Hasan. The on-field umpire asked Shakib twice whether he wanted to withdraw his appeal but Shakib clearly refused to withdraw the appeal, after which Angelo Mathews was declared timed out.
According to the ICC World Cup conditions of play, the incoming batsman must be “ready to play the ball” within two minutes of being dismissed or retired. The appropriate time limit for T20Is is 90 seconds, while for tests it is three minutes. This rule was implemented by ICC in ODI cricket in June 2023.
According to the official scorer, Sadira Samarawickrama was dismissed at 15:49 local time and Angelo Mathews came on at 15:50 local time. When he was not ready, he was timed out by the umpire after Saqib appealed at 15:54 local time.
When Angelo Mathews came on the pitch, his helmet strap came loose, after which fourth umpire Adrian Holdstock said that by the time Mathews came on the pitch to play, he had crossed the time limit.
Answering a query from ICC pundit Ian Bishop, “In the instance this afternoon, the batter wasn’t ready to receive the ball within those two minutes even before the [helmet] strap became an issue for him,” Holdstock stated. “The standing umpire, Marais Erasmus, was contacted by the fielding captain to request a timed out. Shortly after the strap broke, the field captain asked for a timed out appeal.
“The TV umpire keeps an eye on two minutes as per our protocol. Then the on-field umpire will receive communication from him. As a batsman, you really have to be ready to receive the ball within two minutes, not to be set So I believe you should make sure all your stuff is ready when you arrive. So, in theory, you should be there in about 15 seconds to make sure you actually get the ball. Before everything has been prepared.”
With rage in his eyes, Angelo Mathews left as the Bangladeshi players rejoiced. Before hurling the helmet in a fit of rage and stomping off in the direction of the dressing room, he was spotted showing it to head coach Chris Silverwood.
This is the first ‘timed out’ dismissal in 50 overs of cricket and the eighth in men’s cricket history overall. All six of the prior occurrences involved first-class cricket.