Willow Cuts vice-president Rudolph (Buckwoods) Simons and team coach Rodney Fubler yesterday quashed claims that their players had threatened, pushed and used abusive language during an alleged altercation with umpires after the Premier Division game against St. George's which they lost at Somerset last Sunday.

The duo blasted umpire Wilbur Pitcher who earlier this week labelled the behaviour of players as "terrible and disgusting.'' Simons and Fubler called Pitcher's comments a "lot of bull'' and claimed the umpire directly involved in the dispute, former St. George's Cup Match player Maxwell Curtis, had a reputation of favouring the East Enders.

They said the dispute was initiated when St. George's batsman Wendell Smith was caught in the slips only to have Curtis make a late call of `no-ball'.

Curtis, they added, told them that he could have also called no-ball three balls earlier.

"First of all I figured it was wrong to bring two St. George's umpires all the way to Somerset,'' said Fubler of Curtis and Pitcher, also a former St.

George's Cup Match player.

Fubler vehemently denied claims that he pushed any of the umpires outside the door of the dressing room, as was claimed. "These allegations were crazy, nobody ever pushed them. We pointed fingers, yes, and voiced our disgust, but no hands were laid on them,'' insisted Fubler.

"The incident that really ticked us off was when Wendell Smith was caught and then Curtis ruled it was a no-ball, this after Smith had started to walk, as the slip fielder juggled.

"Curtis had the nerve to tell our players that he could have also called a no-ball three balls earlier. What's that all about. I think the no-ball was called because Wendell was the last of the top bats and things were not looking good for them.'' Simons also felt that Curtis showed his bias. "Two St. George's players told me, `sorry mate, Curtis pulled it off for us'.'' Fubler said he worked hard to build his team up for the important match, and they could have won had Smith's dismissal been upheld.

"We were hyped up and wanted to win on Sunday and I was so sure we had the game in the bag but I guess Curtis had other ideas. We should have won by at least 20 runs. There were four overs to go when Wendell Smith got caught. They needed 32 runs and all of the big bats were gone.

"We had tough luck earlier when Dexter Smith was caught in the slips and Curtis said it was a bump ball. It was a clear catch, but we let that slide,'' said Fubler.

Simons added: "It's unfair to label us bad boys ... we told our players before the season that if they even looked hard at the umpires we would penalise them. We are tough on discipline.

"Claims that our skipper didn't show responsibility by allowing stuff to happen both on the field of play and in the dressing room without intercepting are not true. Players respect him. He's been captaining us for 12 years and Cup Match for five years, he has the ability to deal with players in a responsible manner and he has a proven record.

"We have had nine games this season and have had no trouble with umpires. We pay our bills and don't make a fuss even when we are only assigned one umpire for a game.

"Sunday's incident was instigated by Curtis, not us. And George Francis had no right to become involved, he wasn't assigned to the game. It disgusts us when our players are criticised unfairly.''