BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - A controversial issue has spun out of the inaugural St. Kitts Cricket Association’s Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis Premier Cricket League, with one team protesting its disqualification from the tournament.
Management of the Rural East is appalled by the team’s disqualification from the League’s semi-final in which it was scheduled to play against Basseterre team.
The controversy arose after the two umpires claimed that the Rural East failed to show up, while the team’s excuse is that the ground was not prepared because of persistent rain leading up to the two-day encounter.
Speaking to SKNVibes, Manager of the of the Rural East team, Wilmon McCall, stated that he had submitted a written protest to the President of the St. Kitts Cricket Association (SKCA), Aukland Hector, and is awaiting a tribunal.
“On the 10th of April I put a formal protest to Mr. Hector in the form of a letter, indicating to him that the fact that Rural East Cricket team was disqualified and the Basseterre team was given the go ahead to play in the finals was not done according to due process, because we feel that we have been discriminated.”
McCall explained some of the contents of the letter.
“What I said was that I need to see the information upon which the decision was taken. The umpires had to do a report and I need a copy of the report. We need to get a hearing so that the Rural East management can be pulled before the board and all the things against us will be put forward and give us the reason we were taken out of the competition.”
He also recalled what occurred on the day of the incident.
“What we discovered is that Alex Matthew, who is the head grounds for Molineaux, indicated that there were no grounds on which to play cricket. It had rained all day Thursday (Apr. 4) and all day Friday (Apr. 5) and the wicket was not covered and was not prepared.
“So, for them to say we did not appear at the grounds is immaterial, because until the ground is turned over to the umpires the umpires have no jurisdiction to rule…but they ruled anyway.”
He continued: “When the umpires got to the ground, I am told that they did not inspect the wicket. But based on the fact that I already said to Ganesh Algu that our team was having problems fielding a team because of several persons who had travelled that weekend and several of the young players who are doing exams and are doing SBA and declined playing, so we were having problems.
“I called Ganesh and I requested to have the game postponed on the grounds that most of my players were not available for that weekend and we would prefer to play the game on another weekend. Due to the unpreparedness of the ground, I felt that the game should have been put off, but what happened was that the game was awarded to Basseterre solely on the grounds that we could not field a team.”
McCall also stated that he had received a response to his letter but was unhappy with the contents.
“My letter to Mr. Hector was answered yes, but it only spoke to the decision that was taken. He totally disrespected me by not mentioning the hearing. He did not mention the fact that due process was not followed, and he simply said whatever information he received they ruled on that.
“What really made me angry is that I got an invitation from the president of the association to attend the final game, which I thought should not have taken place. Basseterre had no points whatsoever and Rural East was ahead of everybody; therefore, how on earth are we out and Basseterre without points are in?
“What I am saying is that we are seeing the same things from the past with discrimination against the teams that seem not to be at the socio economic level of the other persons. I think that they should have been more lenient with us if we could not get a team. And, besides, they took two of our best young players and put them to play with Basseterre.”
SKNVibes contacted Ganesh Algu of the SKCA to have his perspective on what transpired that weekend.
“We used some prisoners to help prepare the ground. So we sent the prisoners over there and they said the pitch was wet and they could not have rolled it.
“I did not know the pitch was wet on Friday and Saturday. However, Saturday morning Mr. McCall called me and told me he can’t field a team because some players were off island and two youngsters were preparing for exams. I told him that there was little I can do regarding pushing back the game because the finals had already been set and invitations were sent out.”
He went on to state that though they might have been missing some important players they still should have been able to field a team.
“Every Zone had about 16 players. I know players would have been out! They could have still tried and get the balance of the players to play. Looking at Basseterre Zone, many a time they played without Steve Liburd and Elsroy Powell.”
He continued: “Basseterre players made their way to the ground, Steve Liburd called me and asked me if the game was on and I told him the same situation McCall told me, and I told him to go to the ground and see what was happening.
“I did not know nothing about the pitch. If you know you are scheduled to be in a match why didn’t you show up and you don’t decide let the umpires decide? We had to work with the report the umpires gave us and that is the situation, so let’s move on.”
McCall however stated that he would be seeking legal advice on how to proceed with the matter.
