World Cup 2019: West Indies’ Carlos Brathwaite questions umpiring

Carlos Brathwaite said West Indies was on the wrong end of too much poor umpiring following a 15-run World Cup defeat by champion Australia as Michael Holding slammed an “atrocious” display by the match officials.

West Indies opener Chris Gayle and captain Jason Holder were both twice given out on the field at Trent Bridge on Thursday but, on both sets of occasions, saw their decision to review vindicated by the third umpire.

The mood of the Caribbean side was not helped when standing umpire Chris Gaffaney missed a Mitchell Starc no-ball the delivery before the left-arm quick dismissed Gayle for 21. Had the New Zealand official called a no-ball, the next delivery would have been a free hit from which the veteran opener could not have been dismissed.

Report | Starc, Coulter-Nile shine

Brathwaite accepted Gaffaney and Sri Lanka’s Ruchira Palliyaguruge were doing their best, but he made no attempt to hide his annoyance after West Indies fell short chasing a target of 289 in Nottingham. “I don't know if I’ll be fined for saying it but I just think that the umpiring was a bit frustrating,” Brathwaite told reporters.

‘Broke the start’

“Even when we were bowling we thought a few balls close to head height were called wides. And obviously three decisions...as far as I can remember being dodgy, it was frustrating and sent ripples through the dressing room,” the all-rounder added.

“To lose Chris in a chase of 280, who can probably get 180 of them himself obviously, broke the start that we wanted to have. But the umpires do their job, they try to do it to the best of their ability, we as players go out there to do our job as well, so there was no confrontation between the players and the umpires.”

Read | Gayle versus Starc starring umpire Gaffaney

Gaffaney raised his finger twice in three balls to gove Gayle while Palliyaguruge was two-times over-ruled by replays after raising his finger against Holder. Brathwaite made it clear the decisions had not been the key reason why the West Indies had lost, but said they were part of a concerning pattern.

“I just think I’d like that for West Indies, we don’t have to use all our reviews and that some of the other teams get a chance to use theirs because, every time we get hit on our pad, the finger goes up,” he said.

Chris Gayle was dismissed off what would have been a free-hit had the umpire called a no-ball on the previous delivery. Photo: AP

“When we hit the opposition on their pad, the finger stays down. So we have to use our reviews and it’s always missing and then we have to use our reviews when we’re batting as well and it’s always clipping. I’m not a technology person, I don’t know why that happens, I can just say what I have seen happen over the past few years.”

‘Intimidated’

Meanwhile Holding, commentating on television, was scathing about the “weak” officiating on show at Nottinghamshire’s headquarters. “The umpiring in this game has been atrocious,” said Holding, one of cricket’s all-time leading fast bowlers.

The 65-year-old Jamaican added Gaffaney and Palliyaguruge had caved into pressure created by prolonged Australia appeals. “For one, even when I was playing and you were not as strict as they are now, you were allowed one appeal,” recalled Holding, who infamously kicked down the stumps during a 1979-80 Test in Dunedin after his appeal to have New Zealand’s John Parker caught behind was rejected by umpire Fred Goodall.

“You don’t appeal two, three, four times to the umpire. They are being intimidated which means they are weak. This has been an atrocious bit of umpiring by both (Gaffaney and Palliyaguruge).”