When were these specific cricket dismissals recorded for the first time?
Angelo Mathews became the first batter to be dismissed Timed Out in the history of international cricket.
There are quite a few forms of dismissals that are in effect for an international game of cricket. While some of them occur multiple times in a game, some are rare, and they take place once in a year or even centuries. The year 2023 was lucky enough to witness two rare dismissals in international cricket, as a batter was adjudged out for hitting the ball twice, and most recently, Sri Lanka's veteran all-rounder was adjudged as Timed Out for the first time since the very existence of international cricket was realized back in 1877.
Speaking of Angelo Mathews' controversial dismissal, MCC's law holds that the batter had to leave the field, as he had not taken the strike within three minutes since the last wicket fell. The playing conditions stated that a player must be ready to take the strike within two minutes, and thus, here, playing conditions had precedence over the MCC's laws.
Mathews was seen furious as walked off the field, as a debate soon started across the cricketing fraternity, as such dismissal was unseen off in international cricket since fifteen decades of its inception. However, without wasting any further 'time', the Sri Lankan decided to make way for the new batter. With that, the 35-year-old also became the first batter to be dismissed at striker's end, without even facing a delivery.
Shedding more light on the statement of the MCC Laws, the rule 40.1 states about the mode of dismissal. The law reads
40.1.1 Timed Out - "After the fall of a wicket or the retirement of a batter, the incoming batter must, unless Time has been called, be ready to receive the ball, or for the other batter to be ready to receive the next ball within 3 minutes of the dismissal or retirement. If this requirement is not met, the incoming batter will be out, Timed out."
40.1.2 - "In the event of an extended delay in which no batter comes to the wicket, the umpires shall adopt the procedure of Law 16.3 (Umpires awarding a match). For the purposes of that Law the start of the action shall be taken as the expiry of the 3 minutes referred to above."
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