'SHAMEFUL ACT': BCA boss 'hurt' by Oval incident
Editorial
by Philip Spooner/NATIONSPORT
April 28, 1999
PRESIDENT of the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA), Tony Marshall, said
he was deeply hurt by the bottle-throwing incident which halted play at
Kensington Oval on Sunday.
“I am embarrassed on behalf of the BCA that such an incident took place in
Barbados,” Marshall said. “I would like to erase it from my memory as soon as
possible.
“One can understand what would have driven the spectators to some degree of
disgust, but nevertheless, Barbadians must remain mindful that in today’s
world, hundreds of millions (of people) are viewing these games.
“Half of the world saw the incident. Therein lies my pain,” said an upset
Marshall.
The incident occurred after local boy Sherwin Campbell, who was going great
guns on 52, was adjudged run out after colliding with Australian bowler Brendon
Julian. The crowd disagreed with the umpires’ decision and littered the outfield
with bottles, causing play to be halted for 45 minutes before Campbell was
reinstated.
Marshall said the incident would be high on the agenda at the next BCA
management meeting, but he offered suggestions to remedy any such mishaps
in the future.
“We are going to have to move to get Government to introduce legislation to
have bottles banned at Kensington,” Marshall said. “All bars will have to serve
drinks in cups.”
He said it would not be too farfetched to have both monetary and other
penalties slapped on those who have been involved in any infringements at a
game.
“We just cannot have something like what happened on Sunday interfering with
the great game of cricket,” he said. “When you consider what a marvellous job
the police did and the ambiance of the Test match (in late March) and
Saturday’s game, the ugly scene should not have happened.”
Marshall was not willing to attach blame to anyone, but gave a number of
suggestions which he felt could have prevented the situation.
He said the umpires could have exercised the rules and called “dead ball” when
Campbell fell, or the Australian captain could have sought leave of the umpires
and recalled the batsman.
“We must, however, accept that the umpires’ decision is final,” he said. “The
crowd must understand this.”
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