Last Update on: November 8th, 2023 at 11:23 am
While Shakib Al Hasan did not have any hesitation in justifying his appeal for a ‘time out’ dismissal against Angelo Mathews, Bangladesh bowling coach Allan Donald has made it clear that he was not at all impressed.
The World Cup game between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka earlier this week was marred by Mathews’ controversial dismissal. The former Sri Lanka skipper became the first batsman in international cricket to be adjudged timed out as he failed to be ready to face the first ball within two minutes of the last dismissal.
The incident took place in the 25th over of the innings. Mathews managed to arrive at the crease on time but as he was getting ready to face the first ball, he realized that the strap of his helmet was broken. He immediately asked for a new helmet. And while he was waiting for the helmet, Shakib Al Hasan appealed for a timed-out dismissal and the umpire had no option but to give his decision in the favour of the bowling side.
Allan Donald on Angelo Mathews’ dismissal:
After the game, Shakib Al Hasan made it clear that he had no regrets over his action. On the other hand, Mathews called it ‘absolutely disgraceful’ as he expressed his disappointment over the dismissal. And Allan Donald has also shared his views on the incident.
The former South Africa pacer, who is currently plying his trade as Bangladesh’s coach, refused to back his captain’s actions and said that he was disappointed with the incident. He also stated that he does not ‘like that sort of thing’ as he opined that Bangladesh should have given Mathews the time to replace the broken helmet.
“It was disappointing to see. I can understand Shakib taking his chance. His words were ‘I was doing everything to win’. You can sense in my voice that I don’t like I don’t like that sort of thing. It was really difficult to watch that unfold – one of Sri Lanka’s all-time greats walking off the field without a ball bowled to him being given out for time. That’s where I stand on that,” Allan Donald said in an interview with CricBlog as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
“You talk about the respect and the dignity for each other and for the game, the spirit of the game. I just don’t want to see things like that. That’s just me. I just don’t want to see that sort of thing in our game where, okay, someone was sharp out there and said ‘well, you can appeal’. I was like, ‘really – this is not going to happen, this cannot be happening, this can’t be happening.
“The most sensible thing would have been to just to say, ‘okay, no worries, mate, sort your helmet out quickly; you have time to replace it’,” added Allan Donald.
Speaking further, the legendary pacer also said that he was on the verge of running out on the pitch and urging Shakib to withdraw his appeal.
“My immediate reaction when that happened – and this is just [that] my instincts would have taken over – is I almost actually thought of going on that field and saying, ‘enough is enough, we don’t stand for this; we are not that kind of team who stand for this’. That was my immediate thought.
“Things happened so quickly, but you’re talking about authority and I’m not the head coach, I’m not in charge. I just saw Marais Erasmus [the umpire at the bowler’s end] say, ‘Please Angelo, you can now depart the ground’. And, seeing Angelo pick his helmet up and then walking off and throwing it against the advertising boards; it just was… I was surprised,” he said.
Talking about the game, Bangladesh beat Sri Lanka by 3 wickets while chasing 279 to register their second win of the competition.
