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“Obviously disgraceful” was how Angelo
Mathews described the antics of Bangladesh’s squad and opposing captain Shakib
Al Hasan at one of the most fiery news conferences of his career. In his
fifteen years as an international cricket player, he claimed to have
“never seen a team or player stoop so low”.
It was “unfortunate” his helmet strap broke
in a match against Bangladesh because he doesn’t think “any other team
would do that”, he added.
All of this was in retaliation for Shakib’s successful
appeal and subsequent “timed out” dismissal of Mathews, which
prevented Mathews from facing the ball. When Mathews tried to tighten the strap
on his helmet, it broke. He had reached the batting crease and was getting
ready to take on Shakib’s bowling. After Mathews requested a replacement
helmet, which took considerable time to arrive, Bangladesh’s appeal resulted in
Mathews being substituted almost three minutes and twenty seconds after Sadeera
Samarawickrama was dismissed.
“It was obviously disgraceful from Shakib and
Bangladesh,” Mathews said. “If they want to take wickets like that
and stoop down to that level, there’s something wrong, drastically.
“It’s very disappointing way that Bangladesh
played. If it was mankading or obstructing the field, there’s no issue. Within
two minutes I was at the crease, and it was when I was at the crease that my
helmet broke. The umpires saw this. I still had five seconds left. After I
showed my helmet, the umpires said [Bangladesh] had appealed. So I asked where
common sense was because my two minutes hadn’t passed.
“I’ve got no words to explain it. In my 15 years
of playing I’ve never seen a team or a player stoop so low.
“Unfortunately [the strap breaking] happened
against Bangladesh. I don’t think any other team would do that, because it was
black and white. It was equipment malfunction. It was a safety issue as well.
We know that without a helmet I can’t face the bowling.”
Mathews said his view of Shakib had changed in light
of the controversy.
“Up to today, I had utmost respect for him and
the Bangladesh team,” Mathews said. “You all play to win. If it’s
within the rules, it’s clearly fine. But in my incident today, within two
minutes I was clearly there. We have video evidence and we’ll put out a
statement later on – I’m not just coming and saying things here. I’m talking
with proof. From the time the catch was taken to the time I walked into the
crease I still had five seconds after breaking my helmet.”