The last place on earth umpires Stephen West and Randy Raynor wanted to be last Sunday was at the centre of a controversial run out decision during Southampton's match against visiting Bailey's Bay at Southampton Oval.

Perhaps they wished they had gone golfing instead after the match was brought to a screeching halt while opposing fans, players and skippers argued the decision at mid-wicket.

Apparently for Bay, there's just something ominous about Southampton Oval and umpires as several years ago Noel Gibbons and umpire George Francis were involved in a hot dispute about whether or not a catch at long off was caught inside the boundary or over the rope.

At the weekend with Bay opening bat Jermaine Warner lofting the ball all around the ground, the east enders threatened to get off to great start in pursuit of Southampton's huge total of 276.

But after Ricky Hill was dismissed cheaply, Warner's innings also came to an abrupt halt when he and number three batsman Rodney Trott got entangled at the striker's end of the crease, leaving Southampton's Ryan Belboda with the simple task of whipping off the bails at the vacated end.

Umpire West initially judged Trott to be out, but after a brief consultation with Raynor, the senior official reversed his previous decision and Trott was summoned back onto the pitch, while Warner made the short trek to the dressing room in total disbelief.

When play resumed, however, Bay never seemed to regain their form as Southampton went on to win by 159 runs during a bizarre match which also saw six players receive injuries.

Bay skipper Corey Hill yesterday recalled the controversial incident as it became apparent that Wellington Oval was not the only venue where there were fireworks on Sunday.

"To be quite honest in my opinion Mr. Raynor passed on the wrong information to umpire West," said Hill. "That's were the controversy came about as far as I'm concerned.

"If he (Warner) was attempting a run and tried to get back into his wicket fine, he's out!

"But he wasn't attempting a run and everybody that was there could see that the non-striker (Trott) was in the popping crease with him, so what Warner did was naturally turn around and put his bat back in.

"He had no intentions of attempting a run and that's the difference. West didn't have to use the discretion as far as him asking Raynor whether or not he was attempting a run.

"That's the question he should have asked, not whether or not he was out of his wicket because he was out of his wicket but he wasn't attempting a run - and there is a difference."

Hill also noted it was routine for a batsman to leave his crease when playing a defensive stroke.

"Most people when they play defensive strokes follow through and end up outside of their crease and that's what Warner did," he added. "He was not attempting a run and that's why both batsmen ended up next to each other - furthermore, they never even crossed!"

Hill who fractured a finger while attempting to stop a ball at mid-on at the weekend hopes to recover in time for this Sunday's crucial encounter against St.David's at Sea Breeze Oval.

"Hopefully, if we bowl or field accordingly then I won't have to bat," he added. "But I don't have a problem with bowling. It will just be a matter of me being able to field comfortably.

"Irving (Romaine) is doing fine. He is just bruised a bit. Burt (Outerbridge) is still out with an ankle injury while I am not to sure about (Anthony) Braithwaite's current status.

"We have got off to a rough start but in the end we should be alright. It's just been that way for the guys. Those things happen and I just hope that the rot stops soon and once we get a big result against one of the better clubs then we will be right back on track."