'I don't like it': Donald on Mathews' timed-out dismissal
Bangladesh fast bowling coach Allan Donald has said he doesn't "like that sort of thing", referring to Shakib Al Hasan appealing for a timed out dismissal against Sri Lanka batter Angelo Mathews in their World Cup match in Delhi on Monday.
"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 it…
"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," said Donald in an interview with CricBlog.Net soon after the Bangladesh team returned to their hotel in Delhi.
Cricket's "timed out" controversy split the game.
Shakib was branded "disgraceful" by Mathews after he became the first player in the 146-year history of international cricket to be given timed out.
Mathews had exceeded the two minutes allowed for a batsman to take strike as he attempted to secure the strapping on his helmet.
Shakib, who on Tuesday was ruled out of the rest of the tournament with a broken finger, refused to withdraw the appeal, explaining: "I had to take a decision to make sure that my team wins and whatever I had to do, I have to do it".
Donald, however, said: "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'," Donald said.
The former South Africa fast bowler said that when he saw the events unfolding, he was half-thinking of running on to the field to ask Bangladesh captain 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."
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