It's every cricketer's worst nightmare.
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But when you have those bad dreams, you're usually scrambling to find your pads, or you literally can't walk fast enough to cross the boundary - it's never a broken helmet strap.
The spirit of cricket debate has been reignited at the Cricket World Cup in India, after Sri Lankan all-rounder Angelo Mathews became the first player to be timed out in an international match.
Mathews walked to the crease during Sri Lanka's innings against Bangladesh on Monday - but he couldn't take strike within the stipulated two minutes after the chinstrap of his helmet broke.
Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan spoke with umpire Marais Erasmus before making an appeal, and Mathews was ruled to be timed out.
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Mathews remonstrated with umpires to no avail, before walking off the pitch and throwing his helmet in dismay.
The Sri Lankan star has labelled the appeal "disgraceful", adding never in 15 years has he seen a player or a team stoop so low.
Australian batter Usman Khawaja says the decision was ridiculous. South African great Dale Steyn tells you it wasn't cool.
The spirit of cricket is often a flimsy debate wheeled out when the laws of the game work against you.
Remember England taking the moral high ground when Jonny Bairstow was stumped by Alex Carey during the Ashes series? Same old Aussies, always cheating, they cried, while ignoring all evidence of the Englishman using the exact same tactic in the same match.
![Sri Lankan players were up in arms. Picture by Sitthixay Ditthavong Sri Lankan players were up in arms. Picture by Sitthixay Ditthavong](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/36vwtM5n3dmMVgNPycRBEHz/257bd3da-aaab-4a70-9ee5-2adb61a092e0.jpg/r430_930_3720_2700_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
That dismissal is fair game whether you're playing an Ashes Test or a junior game in Canberra's south.
So too is a Mankad. It's not that hard to stay in your crease, rock star.
But this one is different. Mathews wasn't wasting time. Had the Sri Lankan faced one ball before his helmet strap broke, Shakib would have been happy to wait as long as he needed for a replacement helmet to be run onto the ground.
This might be the one time the spirit of cricket actually has some weight behind it.
"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 [the] 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.
"We all are ambassadors of this beautiful game, including the umpires. If you don't respect and you don't use your common sense, what more can you ask for?"
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