NOTTINGHAM, United Kingdom, June 7, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Carlos Brathwaite
said the West Indies were on the wrong end of too much poor umpiring
following a 15-run World Cup defeat by champions Australia as Michael Holding
slammed an “atrocious” display by the match officials.
West Indies opener Chris Gayle and captain Jason Holder were both twice
given out on the field at Trent Bridge on Thursday but, on both sets of
occasions, saw their decision to review vindicated by the third umpire.
The mood of the Caribbean side was not helped when standing umpire Chris
Gaffaney missed a Mitchell Starc no-ball the delivery before the left-arm
quick dismissed Gayle for 21.
Had the New Zealand official called a no-ball, the next delivery would
have been a free hit from which the veteran opener could not have been
dismissed.
Brathwaite accepted Gaffaney and Sri Lanka’s Ruchira Palliyaguruge were
doing their best, but he made no attempt to hide his annoyance after the West
Indies fell short chasing a target of 289 in Nottingham.
“I don’t know if I’ll be fined for saying it but I just think that the
umpiring was a bit frustrating,” Brathwaite told reporters.
– ‘Broke the start’ –
“Even when we were bowling we thought a few balls close to head height
were called wides.
“And obviously three decisions…as far as I can remember being dodgy,
it was frustrating and sent ripples through the dressing room,” the all-
rounder added.
“To lose Chris in a chase of 280, who can probably get 180 of them
himself obviously, broke the start that we wanted to have.
“But the umpires do their job, they try to do it to the best of their
ability, we as players go out there to do our job as well, so there was no
confrontation between the players and the umpires.”
Gaffaney raised his finger twice in three balls to gove Gayle while
Palliyaguruge was two-times over-ruled by replays after raising his finger
against Holder.
Brathwaite made it clear the decisions had not been the key reason why
the West Indies had lost, but said they were part of a concerning pattern.
“I just think I’d like that for West Indies, we don’t have to use all
our reviews and that some of the other teams get a chance to use theirs
because, every time we get hit on our pad, the finger goes up,” he said.
“When we hit the opposition on their pad, the finger stays down. So we
have to use our reviews and it’s always missing and then we have to use our
reviews when we’re batting as well and it’s always clipping.
“I’m not a technology person, I don’t know why that happens, I can just
say what I have seen happen over the past few years.”
– ‘Intimidated’ –
Meanwhile Holding, commentating on television, was scathing about the
“weak” officiating on show at Nottinghamshire’s headquarters.
“The umpiring in this game has been atrocious,” said Holding, one of
cricket’s all-time leading fast bowlers.
The 65-year-old Jamaican added Gaffaney and Palliyaguruge had caved into
pressure created by prolonged Australia appeals.
“For one, even when I was playing and you were not as strict as they are
now, you were allowed one appeal,” recalled Holding, who infamously kicked
down the stumps during a 1979/80 Test in Dunedin after his appeal to have New
Zealand’s John Parker caught behind was rejected by umpire Fred Goodall.
“You don’t appeal two, three, four times to the umpire. They are being
intimidated which means they are weak.
“This has been an atrocious bit of umpiring by both (Gaffaney and
Palliyaguruge).”