West Indies head coach Daren Sammy has confirmed that match officials admitted to making mistakes during the first Test against Australia in Barbados. As quoted by ESPNcricinfo, Sammy revealed that after further discussions, the officials acknowledged that errors had occurred during the game.
“We’ve had further chats [with the officials]. They’ve clarified some stuff. There has been some admission of error as well. This was Barbados, and we’re now in Grenada, so we’ve left that behind,” Sammy said.
Australia won the Test by 159 runs, largely thanks to Josh Hazlewood’s brilliant spell of 5 for 43. However, the match was not without controversy, particularly on Day 2, prompting Sammy to criticise one of the officials during the post-day press conference. As a result of his remarks, he was fined 15 percent of his match fee for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct.
“I said I wouldn’t want my players to do that press conference because of the questions I think that would have been posted at them. I strongly believed in what I said,” Sammy added.
The punishment was handed down by match referee JavagalSrinath. The charge was filed by on-field umpires Richard Kettleborough and Nitin Menon, along with third umpire Adrian Holdstock and fourth umpire Gregory Brathwaite.
Despite the fine, Sammy made it clear he holds no resentment. “I don’t hold grudges. I said what I said, based on what I saw. I’ve been punished for it. I wish Adrian all the best, to be honest. I mean, we’re all human. I have nothing against the umpires. I really wish he has an awesome game,” he said.
The second Test is scheduled to begin on Thursday, 3 July, at the National Cricket Stadium in St George’s, Grenada.
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