So it appears that St George’s Cricket Club have washed their hands of Treadwell Gibbons Jr — at least for the 2014 edition of the annual Cup Match classic.

The challengers were apparently well equipped with bee repellent to endure the stinging criticism that came their way after, first, taking an age to review the case involving their early-order batsman who clearly brought the 2013 match into disrepute, then backing it up with a two-year suspended sentence that appeared as nothing more than a slap on the wrist.

The lunacy of the decision was exposed when Gibbons misbehaved in the very next high-profile event in which he participated — straying more than 70 yards from his goal in football’s FA Cup Final to get involved in an altercation that did not concern him. The Bermuda Football Association reacted with a five-year ban that has reverberated all the way down to Wellington Slip Road and, suddenly, the benefit of the doubt that a serial offender had been given had to be seen as grossly misplaced.

Despite several attempts on and off the record to get the club to confirm that Gibbons effectively has been blacklisted, mum has been the word. But the proof is in the pudding — or, in layman’s terms, in the selections.

St George’s have scheduled two trial matches before this weekend that have included all of the players available to them from the 2013 Cup Match and Gibbons was the only one not selected for either. The third trial is this weekend and, again, he is not in a squad of 15, although, given that the match is against Cleveland County, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that he will line up in opposition at Wellington Oval for the second time in a week.

Last weekend did not work out too well for the left-hander, his untimely dismissal spiriting an underperforming St George’s to their first win of the season — in July! (St George’s teams of old would be rolling in their mothballed gear bags). But at least this time it was for cricketing reasons — and, to be fair to the 28-year-old, he has kept his nose clean, relatively, and perhaps been a bit unlucky after an early-season injury.

Still, the wounds that Gibbons opened from Cup Match 2013 remain raw and, however they went about this decision, football-influenced or not, St George’s would be right to keep him out of the firing line for an annual classic in opposition territory.

What last year’s unpalatable process laid bare is that it is high time that the Bermuda Cricket Board steps in to remind that it is indeed the governing body of cricket on the Island — all cricket, which includes Cup Match.

The clubs, Somerset and St George’s, do a superb job of hosting the event and deserve whatever proceeds and accolades that come their way from the two-day festival, but they cannot really be trusted to police themselves. Seriously. Not after last year.

Those of a Somerset persuasion would have you believe that Gibbons might have been more seriously dealt with internally had he been their player. If that truly is the case, then more reason for an independent panel or match referee to oversee disciplinary issues that arise from the match.

It was formerly the responsibility of the Board before such powers were ceded — a travesty of a decision that requires reversal. And the sooner, the better.

You will read elsewhere in this edition comments from our regular columnist Clay Smith, who is dismayed by the attitudes and behaviours of players. While removing Gibbons for this year may solve one ill, there is nothing to suggest that another problem player is not waiting around the corner.

After all, the same Wellington Oval that was the venue for bat waving — the low point of the embarrassing scenes at Cup Match when Gibbons moved menacingly in the direction of taunting Somerset players, having stood his ground after being given out — has now taken up bat throwing. Maybe a place can be found for that “sport” at the Commonwealth Games, which are right around the corner, but it is definitely not cricket.

Also in need of reversal is the manner in which the umpires are selected. The clubs choosing the umpires only to criticise them vehemently days later and, in some cases, potentially incite supporters against the men in black and white is beyond laughable.

The umpire, like the referee in football, knows that he will get discerning looks or abuse from one side or the other — sometimes both. For them to be handpicked by their future abusers is wholly unnecessary.

It is a wrong that needs to be righted.

St George’s have done their part, albeit belatedly with Gibbons. Now they and Somerset can do the game a massive service and call in the cavalry (the BCB).