LCPL 2014 controversy: Umpires acted within the rules- Senior WICB Umpire

[www.inewsguyana.com] – A senior umpire of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has rubbished claims that the officials in the just concluded finals of the Limacol Caribbean Premier League deviated from the protocol.

Senior Umpire, Nigel Duguid said that both umpires acted within the rules of the tournament during the final match which has been clouded in controversy.

“In a 20/20 game, there are three hours playing time and one hour extra play time in case of any interruption or delays” the Senior umpire was quoted in some sections of the media as saying.

He went on to note that whether it is one, two or three rain interruptions, they all will have to add into the hour, even if the side batting first had two interruptions and the later side had one, much like the case of the disputed finals of the tournament between the Amazon warriors and the Barbados Tridents.

In the case of the cutting of overs, Duguid said that the umpires usually take an over for every four minutes that a game exceeds the allotted 3 hours and the additional hour combined.

In the case of the Duckworth/Lewis which was the issue among some fans, Duguid said that a game can be decided using the system once at least 5 overs of the side batting second has been bowled.

Another grievance by the Amazon Warriors Management was the slow rate at which the Tridents bowled, and the fact that this was not taken into consideration as it relates to the D/L system.

He said, “In no way that would affect the Duckworth/Lewis system; the umpires will have to step in because that is called time wasting and there are certain penalties and procedures for time wasting.”

The finals of the 2014 edition of the tournament ended in what many deem a controversial manner when the umpires announced the Barbados Tridents winners by 8 runs via the Duckworth Lewis Method after a rain interruption in the Amazon Warriors Batting Innings.

However, the winners of the tournament seemed the best kept secret at one time; the Warriors Management claiming that no information was passed on to them, except that they would resume their batting after the rains had subsided.

To cement those claims, the stumps were placed back into the ground and the covers removed with an official comment from the CPL Website backing up that stand.

However, several minutes after, the live broadcast shown around the world, produced footage of Kieron Pollard, the captain of the Tridents celebrating, which was followed by the commentary team confirming the win.

The Amazon Warriors Management lodged a protest with the match referee and followed it up with a letter to the CPL Management, which they confirmed receipt of and is currently processing to produce a final report ‘Imminently’, according to their media official Antonia Graham.