World Cup 2023: When Allan Donald wanted to stop Shakib Al Hasan from appealing against Angelo Mathews

Former South Africa fast bowler Allan Donald said he did not back Shakib Al Hasan’s action on the field that led to Angelo Mathews being timed out during Bangladesh’s win over Sri Lanka in a World Cup 2023 fixture at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.

Allan Donald, who has been working as Bangladesh’s fast-bowling coach, said he even thought about rushing on to the field and stopping Shakib Al Hasan from appealing for timed out, but added that he did not have the authority to do so.

Donald, who was one of the most feared fast bowlers going around, talked about the emotional impact that the turn of events and the heated-up events had on him and the teams, saying he did not want to see such things on a cricket field.

Angelo Mathews became the first batter in international cricket to be given timed out as his dismissal divided the opinion in the cricket fraternity. Mathews lashed out at the Bangladesh cricket team and Shakib Al Hasan after the game, saying he had never seen a team stoop down to such a level.

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Mathews was not ready to face his first ball within the stipulated time of 2 minutes due to issues with his helmet. Shakib appealed to the umpires about Mathews’s delay, leading to Mathews being declared ‘timed out’. Despite Mathews’s attempts to explain the situation, the umpires upheld their decision, sparking controversy and debate among cricket enthusiasts worldwide.

Mathews, after the game, even offered ‘video evidence’ to back his claim that he was in the middle before the regulated 2 minutes’ time and questioned the umpiring n the game.

“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,” Donald told CricBlog.net.

“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 wasâ€æ I was surprised,” he added.

‘THERE WAS NO EYE CONTACT’

The tension between the two teams escalated after the match, with Sri Lanka’s players refusing to shake hands with the Bangladesh team. As soon as Bangladesh scored the winning runs, the Sri Lankan players shook hands with the umpires and left the field, ignoring the Bangladesh batters. This unusual act of defiance underscored the bitter relationship between the two teams, adding another layer of controversy to an already contentious match.

Donald revealed how it felt when the two teams chose not to shake hands with each other after the contest, saying he could see anger in the air and that he wouldn’t want to be part of any such thing in the future.

“There was anger. The only word you can use, really, is anger. At the end of the day then, like I normally do, I’m almost out there on the park first shaking hands and I just knew that these guys were heading for one place and that’s the dressing room. There was no eye contact at all, no conversations, nothing. I don’t know, a lot of these cricketers today can call me old-fashioned but I just don’t think there is any place for it. I just don’t think so,” he added.