Even though Cup Match is just around the corner, I feel it is imperative that I address the Eastern Counties game between Cleveland and Bailey’s Bay, which ended in mayhem.

The game ended in a draw, with the scores level. By Eastern Counties rules, Cleveland, the cup-holders, should have been awarded the trophy. However, after an urgent meeting, the Eastern Counties ruled 9-5 that Bailey’s Bay should be awarded the trophy, even though they never won the game. What a farce!

Could those who voted possibly vote without being judgmental? Did they vote with their emotions or did they vote according to the rules and regulations? The Eastern Counties board released a press release stating that the game ended under the rules of the Eastern Counties.

To make that announcement absolutely clear to all, they are saying that the umpires were absolutely correct to pull the bails at 7.20pm because that is the time the rules state the game should end. In actual fact, the rules state the game should end at 6.50pm, but the umpires are allowed to add 30 minutes, which they did; hence the game ended at 7.20pm.

One insider from the meeting stated: “We did what we felt people wanted us to do.” He went further to say: “Had there been bonus points for a slow over-rate, Bay would have won the game.”

How ludicrous is that? Are there bonus points in the rules of the Eastern Counties regulations. No. Therefore, that factor cannot and should not even come into consideration. That is why I asked earlier, did they vote with their emotions or with the facts? Clearly it was with their emotions; hence, they were never going to give an unbiased decision.

During hard-fought games, emotions can get the best of you. My players appealed and appealed on several different occasions, but to no avail. My players felt slighted, my players felt cheated, but yet they kept playing. Then there was the moment of madness: the return catch that wasn’t given.

My players huddled and as I tried to calm them down and get them to play, they said: “Clay Smith, we are not playing until these umpires are removed. We want the Eastern Counties executive to address us, as we have a vote of no confidence in the umpires. Can we have the umpires removed?”

Through all that banter, I encouraged my players to play on and see how this pans out, which they were about to do when the umpires decided to take a water break. One of Cleveland’s executives, McNeil McGowan, and I even tried to get the umpires to play one or two overs just to get the game restarted and then take the water break, but they declined.

During the water break, some of my players did ask to go off the field, which you are entitled to do, but to some who were not sure what was going on it may have appeared that my players walked off the field of play in protest. That wasn’t the case.

During the water break, the umpires sent word asking for the Eastern Counties president and moments later Stephen Douglas, the president, appeared on the field. Upon hearing our concern, he informed my players that they cannot replace the umpires and that the game must go on. He encouraged them to get on with the game. At that time, some players were still fussing and moaning, so I informed them that they have two options: we can give up the trophy that we had worked so hard for or we can stay and fight until the very end. The players decided that they will stay and fight for what is theirs.

I have to admit that at this stage I thought the game was done and dusted because I didn’t think my players would have the mental toughness to regroup after such turmoil, but they proved me wrong. They showed grit to keep fighting and not give up; hence, the game went to the wire.

As the coach of Cleveland County, I take no joy in what transpired on the field of play when it came to players’ aggression towards umpires, players hitting bails off, or giving umpires verbal abuse. In a recent article, I apologised for my players’ actions and I was very sincere in my remarks.

What I find alarming is that people still find a way to single me out as the main culprit, the mastermind behind all of this and I was not even on the field. Thankfully, the commentators, from what I heard, applauded my efforts to calm my team down and get them playing again.

This takes me to my next point. What could I possibly do from the boundary to stop my team from time-wasting? In order for me to pass any message on to my players, I would have had to step on the field of play so that they could hear me and then the players and coaches of Bay, along with their spectators, would have bashed me further, as they would have thought I was trying to waste even more time. So that was a no-win situation.

Some may look at Cleveland’s stalling tactics as appalling, but it is important that the public realise that these things happened regularly in the past. It doesn’t mean that it’s right, and it is up to the Eastern Counties to put rules in place to prevent this from ever happening again.

For a moment in history, let’s go back to 1997 when St David’s defeated Bay at the same venue. I was talking to a good friend of mine who reminded me of the time when Bailey’s Bay took one hour to bowl a mere six overs, but still lost in the end, as St David’s passed their score. During that game, a Bailey’s Bay spin bowler was actually running from the boundary rope to bowl in an effort to time waste. Need I say any more.

Time-wasting isn’t pretty, but several teams across the Island have done it on numerous occasions. It doesn’t make it right and until we put measures/rules in place to stop it, I’m sorry, but it will continue. There is nothing in the rules of the Eastern Counties that gives the umpires power to add more time on for time-wasting. In fact, a former Bay player came into our changing room afterwards and said: “I have been telling the Eastern Counties for years to change that 7.20pm rule, but they haven’t. Maybe now they will listen to me.”

During the game, the Eastern Counties board could have simply decided that Bay would get an additional 40 minutes for the time the game was halted, but they didn’t. My thoughts are that they were so sure that Bay were going to win, as they were in a commanding position. But how quickly the game changed. All of a sudden, with Bay scrambling, time became a factor, but should it have?

What I don’t hear anybody talking about is how Bay could even allow the game to go that long that time would run out before them passing the score. With time running out, why did their batsmen not assess the situation properly and ensure that they crossed the score before time ran out? Why did none of their coaching staff send a message to their players that this could possibly be the last over and they needed to pass the score this over. To be safe. They needed only a few more runs.

Other factors, although away from the game, made this match a farce: upon arriving to the grounds, the groundsman had covers nailed down at both ends while rolling the pitch. This means the pitch was too damp — winning the toss was crucial. The state of the pitch has to improve for the next round, as that was simply not satisfactory.

What about the sitting areas for the players? One tent for both sets of players is also unsatisfactory. The Bay reserves actually sat under the sightscreen while Cleveland batted, until someone brought out another pop-up tent. This type of unprofessionalism is what continues to haunt our sports.

Now, the Eastern Counties has wrongfully taken our trophy, but I have no doubt that common sense will prevail. It is hoped that the Eastern Counties governing body will remove their emotions, and deal with the facts and the present laws that govern their matches.

I feel obligated also to address a Letter to the Editor by Dean Smith, who, while he is a Cleveland, fan wrote a very inaccurate and detrimental letter. Mr Smith, first of all, you stated that you listened to the game on the radio, so how can you pinpoint one player’s behaviour? Although you didn’t mention his name, everybody knows you were referring to Treadwell Gibbons Jr when you talked about a player at the centre of the controversy. You actually said, “it appears there has been no successful rehabilitation and he continues to play”. I want to make it clear to you and the public that Treadwell stayed clear of any unruly behaviour. So, Mr Smith, Cleveland, and Treadwell Gibbons would appreciate it if you can be man enough to retract your comments and publicly make an apology to Mr Gibbons.

As for Cup Match, I am sure everyone is looking forward to an entertaining game filled with action. Somerset will not be looking to make too many changes, if any at all, to a winning team. St George’s on the other hand will be making several changes in an effort to find the right formula to dethrone Somerset.

Below are the teams I think the selectors will select:

Somerset: Jekon Edness, Deunte Darrell, Malachi Jones, Chris Douglas, Tre Manders, Terryn Fray, Jordan DeSilva, Jacobi Robinsonm, Greg Maybury, Derrick Brangman, Janeiro Tucker.

St George’s: OJ Pitcher, George O’Brien, Stephen Kelly, Treadwell Gibbons, Onias Bascome, Christian Burgess, Jason Anderson, Fiqre Crockwell, Kyle Hodsoll, Damali Bell, Makai Simmons.