Dear Editor,
I write to put the record straight, in view of the fact that your newspaper (Sunday Stabroek, October 25, 2009: Page 28), gives a wrong impression re a decision made by the Match Referee in the recent cricket match played at the Guyana National Stadium at Providence, on Friday, October 23, 2009 between Guyana and Barbados. I was the match referee who penalized the Guyana team for a slow over rate.
In any cricket match, at whatever level it is played, there are laws and playing conditions to guide the actions of players and match officials. Before going further, let me state the facts re the playing conditions for all the matches played at the stadium on October 23 and 24, 2009. I quote from the particular clause 17 (Over-Rate Penalties) of the playing conditions given to me by the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB), which seemed to have caused controversy.
“All sides are expected to be in position to bowl the first ball of the last of their 20 overs within 1 hr 20 minutes playing time. In the event of them failing to do so, the full quota of overs will be completed, and the batting side will be credited with 6 runs for every whole over that has not been bowled.
“This will apply to both innings of the match. If the side batting second is credited with runs in this way and this consequently takes their score past that of the side batting first then the match shall be deemed to be won by the side batting second. All penalties in this regard will be imposed immediately the ball first becomes dead after the scheduled or re-scheduled cessation time for the innings. If the innings is terminated before the scheduled or rescheduled cut-off time, no over-rate penalty shall apply. If the innings is interrupted, the over-rate penalty will apply based on the re-scheduled cessation time for that innings.”
The above were the playing conditions that all the teams were aware of. These playing conditions guided the Match Referee and the Umpires in the performance of their duties. Two matches were played on October 23, 2009: Jamaica vs. United Chargers and Guyana vs. Barbados. In the first match, United Chargers were penalized and in the second match, both Barbados and Guyana were penalized but some people only had a problem with the match referee when Guyana had to be penalized for a slow over-rate.
Now, let me state the facts of what transpired in the Guyana vs. Barbados match. Guyana batted first and at the expiration of 1 hr 20 minutes, Barbados were two balls into their 19th over. This meant that Barbados had to concede six penalty runs to Guyana. I was in regular radio communication with the on-field umpires Davteerth Anandjit and Shannon Crawford, and after consultation with them, I instructed them to immediately inform the Barbados captain at the conclusion of the 19th over and they did so. Guyana, at the end of 20 overs had scored 151 runs and with being credited six penalty runs their score was adjusted to 157. It meant that Barbados was set a target of 158 runs.
At the expiration of 1 hr 20 minutes, Guyana had not bowled 20 overs. Again in consultation with the on-field umpires a decision had to be made. The umpires advised me that they had, on more than one occasion, informed the Guyana captain that Guyana was behind on over-rate. The umpires also advised me that they had recorded a total of four minutes for stoppage during the innings, the equivalent of the time for one over. So, whereas the original cessation time was set for 21:02 hours, the re-scheduled cessation time was set for 21:06 hours and the umpires informed the Guyana captain accordingly. This was a position that I approved based on my own observation and recordings.
At the re-scheduled cessation time, 21:06 hours, Guyana was 2 overs short, taking into account the stoppage time added on, thus the penalty of conceding 12 runs to Barbados. Again, I point to the relevant part of the playing conditions that guided my decision: “…If the side batting second is credited with runs in this way and this consequently takes their score past that of the side batting first then the match shall be deemed to be won by the side batting second. All penalties in this regard will be imposed immediately the ball first becomes dead after the scheduled or re-scheduled cessation time for the innings….”
With regards to your report that I took the decision without notifying the official scorers, this is what happened:-
I was on the ground and the official scorers were upstairs operating from their regular location. I was also in regular radio contact with them. As it turned out their radio failed when I tried to communicate and it was not possible for me to run upstairs to speak to them. What I did was to inform the Public Address announcer to announce my decision which had to be done at a precise time. One of the official scorers afterwards came down to me in order to understand what had taken place. It was then that I learnt that the scorers’ radio had failed and they couldn’t hear me. These are the facts of what happened and if your reporter had approached me he would have been briefed accordingly but he chose to report as he did, and it gives the impression that the match referee did not act correctly.
Yours faithfully,
Grantley Culbard
Cricket Match Referee
