timed out
{{Short description|Rare method of dismissal in cricket}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}
Timed out is a method of dismissal in the sport of cricket. It occurs when an incoming batter is not ready to play within a given amount of time of the previous batter being either dismissed or retired.{{cite web|url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/angelo-mathews-becomes-the-first-player-to-be-dismissed-timed-out-in-international-cricket-1407500|title=Mathews becomes the first to be dismissed timed out in international cricket|publisher=ESPNcricinfo|first=Andrew|last=Fidel Fernando|date=6 November 2023|access-date=6 March 2025}}{{Cite web |title=What Is Timed Out Law? Explaining Angelo Mathews' World Cup Dismissal Against Bangladesh {{!}} Cricket News |url=https://sports.ndtv.com/icc-cricket-world-cup-2023/what-is-time-out-law-explaining-angelo-mathews-world-cup-dismissal-against-bangladesh-4550148 |access-date=2023-11-06 |website=NDTVSports.com |language=en}} This is one case of a 'diamond' or 'platinum' duck, as the player is out without having faced a ball. The purpose of the law is to ensure there are no unnecessary delays to the game. It is easily avoided, and it is very unusual for a batter to get out 'timed out'. {{As of|2025|3}}, there have been no instances of this type of dismissal in Test cricket, a single instance each in One Day International and Twenty20 International cricket, and seven instances in first-class cricket.
Background
"Timed Out" as a specific method of dismissal was added to the Laws in the 1980 code.{{cite web|url=http://acscricket.com/Articles/2/2391.html |title=Laws of Cricket 1980, Law 31|website=acscricket.co}} {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927234046/http://acscricket.com/Articles/2/2391.html |date=27 September 2007 }} It provided two minutes for the incoming batter to "step on to the field of play". In the 2000 code, this was revised to three minutes for the batter to "be in position to take guard or for his partner to be ready to receive the next ball".{{cite web|url=http://www.lords.org/laws-and-spirit/laws-of-cricket/laws/law-31-timed-out,57,AR.html |title=Laws of Cricket 2000, Law 31|website= www.lords.org}}{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080501073644/http://www.lords.org/laws-and-spirit/laws-of-cricket/laws/law-31-timed-out,57,AR.html |date=1 May 2008 }} However, the first printed Laws of cricket, in 1775, already required the umpires "To allow Two Minutes for each Man to come in when one is out".{{cite web|url=http://acscricket.com/Articles/2/2537.html|title= Laws of cricket 1775|website=acscricket.com}} {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927233847/http://acscricket.com/Articles/2/2537.html |date=27 September 2007 }}
In 1919, Sussex cricketer Harold Heygate was given out by the umpire Alfred Street as "timed out" in a first-class County Championship match with Somerset at Taunton. MCC, then in charge of the Laws, later ruled that the umpire was correct in ending the Sussex innings when Heygate failed to appear within two minutes, but that the batter should be marked as "absent", which is how it appears in the 1920 edition of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. Under present rules, Heygate would have been recorded as "absent hurt", and this is how his innings is now recorded in CricketArchive. The match ended in a tie.See the [http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Scorecards/9/9533.html CricketArchive Scorecard]. Heygate was given out under Law 45 of the [http://acscricket.com/Articles/2/2473.html Laws of cricket, 1884 code – 1919 revision] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927234053/http://acscricket.com/Articles/2/2473.html |date=27 September 2007 }}.
Current Law
Law 40 of the Laws of Cricket provides that an incoming batter must be in position to receive the ball or for their partner to be ready to receive the next ball within a given amount of time of the fall of the previous wicket or the previous batsman retiring. If not, the incoming batter will be given out, timed out, on appeal.{{cite web |url=https://www.lords.org/mcc/the-laws-of-cricket/timed-out |title=Law 40 – Timed Out |publisher=Marylebone Cricket Club |accessdate=8 November 2023}}
The amount of time given for the incoming batter to be ready varies depending on the match playing conditions. The default period of time defined in Law 40 is 3 minutes, but this is amended to 2 minutes for Test cricket and one day international cricket.{{cite web |url=https://resources.pulse.icc-cricket.com/ICC/document/2023/05/29/34ab2c5c-0f8b-439c-9cb9-08089227babc/Mens-Standard-Test-June-2023.pdf |title=Men's Standard Test Match Playing Conditions |date=June 2023 |publisher=International Cricket Council |page=55 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107225710/https://resources.pulse.icc-cricket.com/ICC/document/2023/05/29/34ab2c5c-0f8b-439c-9cb9-08089227babc/Mens-Standard-Test-June-2023.pdf |archive-date=7 November 2023}}{{cite web |url=https://resources.pulse.icc-cricket.com/ICC/document/2023/05/29/a0af0dea-cd10-43a9-a50c-c09f88e6bbcf/Men-s-ODI-June-2023-Clean.pdf |title=ICC Men's Standard ODI Playing Conditions |date=June 2023 |publisher=International Cricket Council |page=52 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107230409/https://resources.pulse.icc-cricket.com/ICC/document/2023/05/29/a0af0dea-cd10-43a9-a50c-c09f88e6bbcf/Men-s-ODI-June-2023-Clean.pdf |archive-date=7 November 2023}} Twenty20 cricket shortens the period of time even further to 90 seconds, and an on-field dugout is often provided in this format (in a similar manner to some other team sports such as association football and rugby) to enable incoming batters to make their way to the wicket immediately when a wicket falls to avoid being timed out.{{cite web |url=https://resources.pulse.icc-cricket.com/ICC/document/2023/05/29/f107f3dc-4c8f-44d1-936b-5180806e5354/ICC-Men-s-T20I-Playing-Conditions-June-2023-Clean.pdf |title=ICC Men's Twenty20 International Playing Conditions |date=June 2023 |publisher=International Cricket Council |page=50 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107230709/https://resources.pulse.icc-cricket.com/ICC/document/2023/05/29/f107f3dc-4c8f-44d1-936b-5180806e5354/ICC-Men-s-T20I-Playing-Conditions-June-2023-Clean.pdf |archive-date=7 November 2023}} The umpires cannot rule on any appeal for timed out until someone takes the field of play.
The "incoming batter" may be any batter who has not yet batted. There is no prescribed batting order in cricket, i.e. the team does not have to come out to bat in any specific order even if one has been published. Until one batter has set foot on the field the batting captain may pick any player who has not yet batted who, when they appear on the field, may then be given out on appeal.[https://web.archive.org/web/20120206223045/http://www.lords.org/data/files/law_31_qanda-9679.pdf MCC Answers to Questions on Law 31] Knowing that a better batter will shortly be able to take the field, the captain can therefore sacrifice onto the field
their worst remaining batter (colloquially the "No. 11") or one who is present injured, even one who previously retired hurt.
Whether or not an appeal for timed out is made, if the delay in which no batter comes to the wicket extends beyond the prescribed minutes, an "extended delay" is judged and the umpires follow the procedure in Law 16.3 with a view to award the match to the opposing team. They will discuss the situation together, make contact with the Captain of the team who are refusing to play and can award the game to the bowling side.{{cite web |url=https://www.lords.org/mcc/the-laws-of-cricket/the-result |title=Law 16 – The Result |publisher=Marylebone Cricket Club |accessdate=8 November 2023}}
If no remaining not out players are able to take the field (e.g. through absence, injury or illness, or suspension or ejection as a result of a players' conduct offence) then none is given out timed out; instead the innings is to be considered as completed and "absent ill/injured/hurt" (or retired in the event of a players' conduct offence) is noted next to all remaining players' names as appropriate.{{cite web |url=https://www.lords.org/mcc/the-laws-of-cricket/innings |title=Law 13 – Innings |publisher=Marylebone Cricket Club |accessdate=8 November 2023}}{{cite web |url=https://www.lords.org/mcc/the-laws-of-cricket/players-conduct |title=Law 42 – Players' Conduct |publisher=Marylebone Cricket Club |accessdate=8 November 2023}}
Dismissals
=Test cricket matches=
No batter has been dismissed timed out in Test cricket as of November 2023, but there are some notable incidents where a batter could have potentially been dismissed in this manner:
- During the third Test at Cape Town's Newlands Cricket Ground of the 2006–2007 series between India and South Africa, India quickly lost two opening batters at the start of their second innings. Sachin Tendulkar was listed as the fourth batter, but as he had been replaced as a fielder for 18 minutes at the end of South Africa's first innings, he was ineligible to bat in India's second innings until another 18 minutes had expired from its commencement. After confusion in the Indian dressing room about Tendulkar's ineligibility resulting in a six-minute delay, Sourav Ganguly came in as the next batter. South African captain Graeme Smith did not appeal for a "timed out" dismissal of the incoming batter as the Umpires had told him it would not be entertained due to confusing information given by the match referee regarding Tendulkar's short suspension, and Ganguly was allowed to commence his innings.{{cite web|url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/rsavind/content/story/275283.html|title=Out of sight, out of time|author=Dileep Premachandran|date=5 January 2007|work=ESPNcricinfo|publisher=ESPN Inc.|accessdate=17 March 2015}}
- During the second Test in the 2023 Ashes series, Australian player Nathan Lyon suffered a severe calf injury while fielding that prevented him from moving at a normal pace. During the Australian second innings he decided to take his place as the final batter and to avoid the potential for England to appeal and have him dismissed by a time out, Lyon moved closer to the field than the Australian players pavilion so he could hobble onto the ground within the time limit. He avoided being timed out, scoring 4 runs before he was dismissed.
= One Day International cricket=
The first batter in One Day International cricket (or indeed in any form of international cricket){{Cite news |last=Martin |first=Ali |date=2023-11-06 |title=Sri Lanka's Angelo Mathews timed out in World Cup loss to Bangladesh |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/nov/06/angelo-mathews-becomes-first-international-cricketer-to-be-timed-out-sri-lanka-world-cup |access-date=2024-01-06 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} to be timed out was Angelo Mathews in a group stage match against Bangladesh during the 2023 Cricket World Cup. Mathews was making his way to the crease after the dismissal of Sadeera Samarawickrama when his helmet strap broke and he sought a replacement helmet on the edge of the field before being ready to face the next ball, with the time taken between Samarawikrama's dismissal and Mathews' readiness to face the next ball consequently exceeding the 2 minutes permitted under the tournament playing conditions.{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/67333235 | title=Mathews' unwanted history - watch unique dismissal, reaction and vote | work=BBC Sport }} Subsequently, Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan appealed for timed out, which was upheld by the on-field umpires Richard Illingworth and Marais Erasmus. Despite Mathews' protestations, Shakib refused to withdraw the appeal. The dismissal generated controversy, with some praising and others criticising Shakib for his actions.{{Cite news |last1=Macpherson |first1=Will |last2=Burrows |first2=Josh |date=2023-11-06 |title='Disgraceful': Sri Lanka outraged as Angelo Mathews timed out against Bangladesh |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/2023/11/06/angelo-mathews-timed-out-sri-lanka-bangladesh-world-cup/ |access-date=2024-01-06 |work=The Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}{{Cite web |date=6 November 2023 |title=Mathews dismissed timed out: 'Eye-opener for all batters' |url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/icc-cricket-world-cup-2023-angelo-mathews-dismissed-timed-out-usman-khawaja-dale-steyn-gautam-gambhir-react-1407530 |access-date=6 March 2025 |publisher=ESPNcricinfo }} It later emerged that Mathews would not have been ready to face the next ball in time even had his helmet strap not broke, and that he had been warned by the umpires about the possibility of being timed out before the helmet malfunction.{{Cite web |last=Gollapudi |first=Nagraj|date=8 November 2023 |title=Umpires informed Mathews of timed-out threat before helmet malfunction |url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/icc-world-cup-2023-ban-vs-sl-umpires-informed-angelo-mathews-of-timed-out-threat-before-helmet-malfunction-1407743 |access-date=6 March 2025 |publisher=ESPNcricinfo }}
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
! scope="col" |No. ! scope="col" |Player ! scope="col" |Team ! scope="col" |Opposition ! scope="col" |Venue ! scope="col" |Competition ! scope="col" |Date ! scope="col" |Result | ||||||
| rowspan="2" | 1
! scope="row" | {{sortname|Angelo|Mathews}} | {{cr|Sri Lanka}} | {{cr|Bangladesh}} | Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi, India | 38th Match, 2023 Cricket World Cup | {{dts|format=dmy|2023|November|6}} | Lost{{cite web|url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/icc-cricket-world-cup-2023-24-1367856/bangladesh-vs-sri-lanka-38th-match-1384429/full-scorecard|title=BAN vs SL Cricket Scorecard, 38th Match at Delhi, November 06, 2023|publisher=ESPNcricinfo|access-date=6 March 2025}} |
| colspan="7" style="font-size: 85%" | Mathews was making his way to the crease following the dismissal of Sadeera Samarawickrama when his helmet strap broke, exchanging his helmet on the boundary before proceeding. The resulting delay meant that Mathews failed to be ready to receive the next ball in time, however he still would not have been ready in time even without the helmet malfunction. |
=Twenty20 International cricket=
The first batter in Twenty20 International cricket to be out Timed out was Ghana's Godfred Bakiweyem against Sierra Leone in the 2023 Africa Cricket Association Africa T20 Cup, occurring only a month after the aforementioned Mathews dismissal in One Day International cricket. Notably, Bakiweyem was involved in another unusual dismissal earlier in the same match when Sierra Leone's Abass Gbla made intentional contact with Bakiweyem while Bakiweyem was attempting to run Gbla out, resulting in Gbla being given out obstructing the field.{{Cite web |date=2023-12-18 |title=Watch: Batters given out obstructing the field and timed out in Ghana-Sierra Leone Africa Cup T20I |url=https://www.wisden.com/cricket-news/watch-batters-given-out-obstructing-the-field-and-timed-out-in-ghana-sierra-leone-africa-cup-t20i |access-date=2025-02-07 |website=Wisden |language=en}}
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
! scope="col" |No. ! scope="col" |Player ! scope="col" |Team ! scope="col" |Opposition ! scope="col" |Venue ! scope="col" |Competition ! scope="col" |Date ! scope="col" |Result | ||||||
| rowspan="2" | 1
! scope="row" | {{sortname|Godfred|Bakiweyem}} | {{cr|Ghana}} | {{cr|Sierra Leone}} | Willowmoore Park, Benoni, South Africa | 12th Match, 2023 Africa Cricket Association Cup | {{dts|format=dmy|2023|December|17}} | Won{{cite web|url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/africa-cricket-association-cup-2023-24-1412206/ghana-vs-sierra-leone-12th-match-group-b-1412222/full-scorecard|title=GHA vs SLE Cricket Scorecard, 12th Match, Group B at Benoni, December 17, 2023|publisher=ESPNcricinfo|access-date=6 March 2025}} |
| colspan="7" style="font-size: 85%" | Following the dismissal of Samson Awiah, Bakiweyem was uncertain as to whether he was next to bat, the resulting delay meaning that he failed to be ready to receive the next ball in time. |
=First-class cricket=
See also
Notes
{{reflist|group=note}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.lords.org/mcc/the-laws-of-cricket The Laws of Cricket]
- [https://www.wisden.com/wisden-cricketers-almanack Wisden Cricketers' Almanack]
- {{Wiktionary-inline}}
{{Methods of dismissal in cricket}}