Usman Khawaja weighs in as cricket world blasts 'appalling' Angelo Mathews dismissal

Usman Khawaja has added his voice to the condemnation of Angelo Mathews' dismissal at the Cricket World Cup on Monday night after the Sri Lankan was 'timed out'. Mathews became the first player ever to be dismissed in that fashion in international cricket after he wasn't ready to face his first delivery within two minutes of a dismissal.

Mathews was preparing to face his first ball against Bangladesh when the chin strap on his helmet broke. He therefore called for a new helmet to be brought out from the Sri Lanka dressing rooms, but when the Bangladesh players noticed it had been three minutes since the previous dismissal they appealed to the umpires.

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Under the laws of cricket, a batter must be ready to face the next ball after a wicket within two minutes. The umpires appeared to ask Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan if he wanted to go through with the appeal, which he said he did.

Mathews was subsequently given out 'timed out' - the first instance of such a dismissal in 146 years of international cricket. "I don't know where the common sense went because obviously it's disgraceful from Shakib and Bangladesh if they want to play cricket and to stoop down to that level. I think there is something drastically wrong," Mathews told reporters in New Delhi after Sri Lanka's loss.

"In my 15-year career, I've never seen a team going down to that level because the umpires also admitted that it's equipment malfunction, and they could have gone upstairs and checked again. I don't think any other team would do that because it was black and white. It was equipment malfunction, the helmet coming off. It was a big safety issue as well. Shakib had the option (of recalling me) but he decided to go the other way.

"It's a technicality which needs to be discussed because it's a World Cup game and what happens if this happens in the last over when you have three or four runs to get in the last wicket. I wasn't trying to waste time."

Fourth umpire Adrian Holdstock told Star Sports during the innings break: "In the instance this afternoon, the batter wasn't ready to receive the ball within those two minutes, even before the strap became an issue for him." But Mathews refuted that claim, saying: "If you ask the question now, he would have a different answer...I have the video evidence and if anybody wants to contest it, I urge them to."

Cricket world blasts Bangladesh over 'appalling' move

Bangladesh won the match by three wickets, ending Sri Lanka's slim chances of making the semi-finals. The two sides didn't shake hands after the match, and Shakib remained steadfast in his decision.

"One of our fielders came to me and said, 'if you appeal, the law says he's out because he hasn't taken his guard within the time frame'," said Shakib. "So, then I appealed and the umpire asked me whether I'm going to call him back or not. I said 'I won't call him back'. It's in the laws. I don't know if it's right or wrong, but I had to take a decision to, you know, make sure that my team wins, and whatever I had to do, I have to do it."

Aussie star Khawaja was among the many to blast Shakib. He wrote on social media: "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."

with agencies

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