St David’s attempt to wrest the Eastern Counties Cup away from holders Bailey’s Bay has been dealt a major blow with Chris Douglas and Ricardo Brangman unavailable for selection.

The senior pair have been ruled out of the intriguing clash at Sea Breeze Oval through suspension after being hit with Level Two disciplinary charges for showing “serious dissent at an umpire’s decision”.

The Eastern Counties Cricket Association is abiding by the decision, with both players banned for two 50-over matches or four T20 games.

“We do have a memorandum of understanding with the Bermuda Cricket Board and we will be respecting and honouring their sanctions,” Derek Wright, the ECCA chairman of cricket, told The Royal Gazette.

“If their suspensions go through that time period, we are going to respect that and they would not be available.”

Douglas landed himself in hot water during Somerset’s Knockout Cup semi-final against Bay after disputing a decision by Emmerson Carrington and would have been face to face with the umpire again this weekend if his ban was not upheld, with Carrington scheduled to be in the middle for Saturday’s match.

Brangman’s offence came in St David’s quarter-final match against Western Stars in the same competition.

The BCB and the ECCA reached an agreement in 2019 to help better promote the competition, exchange information and other initiatives beneficial to cricket locally.

The BCB said at the time that the MOU is to “set forth an agreement for the exchange of information and where mutually beneficial, a collaboration on initiatives, including cricket programmes, match regulations, best practices, scheduling and public relations”.

Moreover, the board said the memorandum of understanding is to “identify and agree the roles and responsibilities of each party as they relate to their common aim of promoting cricket in Bermuda generally, and in the Eastern Counties in particular”.

The Eastern Counties had clashed with the BCB in the past over suspensions imposed on players, something the ECCA previously claimed the board had no jurisdiction over.

In 2016, Douglas was suspended for three months by the BCB but played for St David’s in the Eastern Counties two days later. He received the ban after pleading guilty to the charge of threatening assault on a Willow Cuts player while playing for St David’s in a league match at Somerset Cricket Club.

Cleveland never appealed against Douglas playing in that Eastern Counties match, despite being dethroned.

Officials from St David’s subsequently met with the BCB in an attempt to determine whether Douglas’s three-month suspension from all cricket should involve the Eastern Counties competition before ultimately leaving the player out of their squad for their clash with Bay in the final “on the side of caution”.

In 2018, Bay tried to include Brangman’s sibling, Derrick, in their team for the Eastern Counties while he was serving a one-year ban, claiming the BCB had no power to suspend him from their competition. The all-rounder eventually took his case to arbitration and won the appeal.

The opening round of the Eastern Counties competition on Saturday is a repeat of last year’s final, which featured Bay beating holders St David’s by 80 runs at Lord’s.

Cup Match champions Somerset confirmed this week that they will also comply with the BCB ban imposed on Douglas, who is the son of BCB cricket chairman and ECCA president Steven Douglas.

“According to the communication from the Bermuda Cricket Board, Chris is only eligible to play again on August 20, when we complete four T20 matches,” Jeff Richardson, the Somerset coach, said.

“The ruling doesn’t apply to Cup Match or counties but we are still governed by the Bermuda Cricket Board, so we have to honour the fact that he has been suspended.”