NOTTINGHAM: Carlos Brathwaite said the West Indies were on the wrong end oftoo much poor umpiring following a 15-run World Cup defeat by championsAustralia as Michael Holding slammed an “atrocious” display by the matchofficials.
West Indies opener Chris Gayle and captain Jason Holder were both twicegiven out on the field at Trent Bridge on Thursday but, on both sets ofoccasions, saw their decision to review vindicated by the third umpire.
The mood of the Caribbean side was not helped when standing umpire ChrisGaffaney missed a Mitchell Starc no-ball the delivery before the left-armquick dismissed Gayle for 21.
Had the New Zealand official called a no-ball, the next delivery would havebeen a free hit from which the veteran opener could not have been dismissed.
Brathwaite accepted Gaffaney and Sri Lanka’s Ruchira Palliyaguruge weredoing their best, but he made no attempt to hide his annoyance after theWest 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 theumpiring was a bit frustrating,” Brathwaite told reporters.
– ‘Broke the start’ –
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“Even when we were bowling we thought a few balls close to head height werecalled wides.
“And obviously three decisions…as far as I can remember being dodgy, it wasfrustrating and sent ripples through the dressing room,” the all-rounderadded.
“To lose Chris in a chase of 280, who can probably get 180 of them himselfobviously, broke the start that we wanted to have.
“But the umpires do their job, they try to do it to the best of theirability, we as players go out there to do our job as well, so there was noconfrontation between the players and the umpires.”
Gaffaney raised his finger twice in three balls to gove Gayle whilePalliyaguruge was two-times over-ruled by replays after raising his fingeragainst Holder.
Brathwaite made it clear the decisions had not been the key reason why theWest Indies had lost, but said they were part of a concerning pattern.
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“I just think I’d like that for West Indies, we don’t have to use all ourreviews and that some of the other teams get a chance to use theirsbecause, 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 haveto use our reviews and it’s always missing and then we have to use ourreviews 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 saywhat I have seen happen over the past few years.”
– ‘Intimidated’ –
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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 ofcricket’s all-time leading fast bowlers.
The 65-year-old Jamaican added Gaffaney and Palliyaguruge had caved intopressure created by prolonged Australia appeals.
“For one, even when I was playing and you were not as strict as they arenow, you were allowed one appeal,” recalled Holding, who infamously kickeddown the stumps during a 1979/80 Test in Dunedin after his appeal to haveNew 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 beingintimidated which means they are weak.
“This has been an atrocious bit of umpiring by both (Gaffaney andPalliyaguruge).”
