Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews embroiled in controversy at Cricket World Cup

NEW DELHI – Sri Lanka batsman Angelo Mathews demanded “justice” from the International Cricket Council and branded Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan “a cheat” on social media after becoming the first player to be “timed out” in international cricket at the World Cup on Monday.

Mathews had already made his feelings clear in the press conference after the defeat that ended Sri Lanka’s hopes of progressing at the World Cup, saying Shakib’s appeal for the controversial dismissal had been “disgraceful”.

He had breached the World Cup rule that a new batter must be ready to face a delivery within two minutes of a wicket falling.

The 36-year-old Mathews said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he had been in place with seconds to spare before the chinstrap on his helmet broke, requiring a new one to be brought out, backing up his position with time-stamped video screenshots.

“Video evidence shows I still had five more seconds even after the helmet gave away! Can the fourth umpire rectify this please? I mean safety is paramount as I just couldn’t face the bowler without a helmet,” he wrote.

“This is clear cheating, I want justice,” he added in another post.

That directly contradicted fourth umpire Adrian Holdstock.

“In the incident this afternoon, the batter wasn’t ready to receive the ball within those two minutes even before the strap became an issue for him,” he said in an on-pitch interview after the game at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.

“As a batsman, you need to make sure you have all your equipment in place... because you actually have to be ready to receive the ball within two minutes, not ready to prepare or take your guard.”

There was plenty of support for Mathews, with former South Africa bowler Dale Steyn saying the incident “wasn’t cool”, Australia’s Usman Khawaja weighing in by calling it “ridiculous” and former India captain Gautam Gambhir branding it “absolutely pathetic”.

“I didn’t enjoy what I saw out there. That wasn’t good for the spirit of cricket. I am old school and I think that was a lot of drama to get Angelo Mathews out,” Pakistan great Waqar Younis said in a TV broadcast.

Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif was among those who blamed Shakib for appealing for the dismissal and not reconsidering even after being asked by the on-field umpires whether he wanted to continue with it.

“Shakib should believe in winning, but not ‘winning at all cost’. That was shameful,” he posted on X.

Shakib had defended his decision in his post-match press conference, saying his actions were within the rules and he had no regrets.

He was supported by former England captain Michael Vaughan, who said in his experience the much-vaunted “spirit of the game” had always been more honoured in the breach.

“Yes, Shakib is going to get loads of people, particularly on social media, saying he broke the spirit of the game, he’s a disgrace. He’s well within his rights, it’s the laws of the game. It’s utter nonsense talking about the spirit of the game, the umpire’s got it right,” he told Cricbuzz.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s Court of Appeal quashed Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe’s decision to sack the country’s crisis-ridden cricket board and restored the expelled officials on Tuesday pending a full hearing.

The court accepted a petition by board president Shammi Silva challenging the minister’s move on Monday to dismiss the Sri Lanka Cricket board and appoint an interim committee.

It is the latest twist in a months-long struggle between Mr Ranasinghe and the cricket board, which is the richest sports organisation on the financially stricken island.

Mr Ranasinghe has accused the board of widespread corruption, and his sacking of its members came days after the national men’s cricket team were thrashed by India at the World Cup. REUTERS, AFP