WI local: UWI team walks off field

The walking off of a Division 2 team last Saturday has brought to a head the matter of indiscipline in local cricket. The incident occurred at Content, St. Thomas, in a match between BRC and the University of the West Indies (UWI), where it was alleged that the UWI team walked off the field after one of their batsmen was given out by a youthful umpire.

Chasing a total of 100 for victory, UWI found themselves 15 for six wickets when, at the fall of a wicket, the non-striker was alleged to have walked off the field in disgust at the decision given by the youngster. No other batsman came to the wicket and UWI defaulted the match.

A BRC player said: 'The little guy gave a man out caught behind. The man behaved so badly. Even if the guy wasn't out, there was no need to behave like that.'

A Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) official told NATIONSPORT the rules were clear on a matter such as this and there was no doubt that if the allegations were true, UWI should be made to forfeit the match.

The BCA has not met on the matter and what sanctions could be brought against UWI, but it comes at a time when the BCA has expressed concern at behavioural patterns at matches.

The ten-year-old umpire at the centre of attention had officiated the week before, following agreement between the two captains after no official umpires had turned up for the game.

The cricket administrator said that once the two captains had agreed on a person to stand in, that person then becomes an official.

'In agreeing to the youngster officiating, the UWI team must have known up front that at such a tender age he might have made mistakes,' the official noted.

What made the matter distasteful was its occurrence on National Sportsmanship Day.

There was another incident reported in a Division 1 match where a fast bowler sent down a head-high full toss late in the day in fading light.

It was not the first time that a team had walked off a cricket field. Two seasons ago, Wotton did a similar thing in an Intermediate playoff against Dover.