Bermuda Cricket Board of Control's decision not to sanction the proposed tour of the Island by a star-studded West Indian veteran team, including stars such as Sir Viv Richards and Courtney Walsh, has been labelled as "unconstitutional".

While making it clear that there was no way the tour could be rearranged at this point, Testimonial Committee chairman Custerfield Crockwell blasted the governing body for allowing a vote on the issue to take place when there were representatives from clubs who were not considered "financial".

The close decision saw members giving the tour the thumbs down because dates conflicted with the final Cup Match trials. The Testimonial Committee and the two Cup Match clubs were unable to find a compromise.

"Although there is no way we can go ahead with the tour at this time I am still quite disturbed to hear that during the voting there were members who represented their clubs and were allowed to vote when their clubs were not financial," said Crockwell.

"To me that is unconstitutional and my question is simply, is that the way the Board has turned now and will they allow anybody to vote whether they are paid up or not?"

According to Crockwell, who was a long-serving member of the Board until the late 1980s, voting by non-financial members was not allowed in his day.

He recalled that if a club hadn't paid its annual fees, it was excluded from the decision-making process regardless of the importance of the topic.

Crockwell said he regarded the latest episode "a sad day for cricket" in Bermuda, claiming it was a great pity that both the former Test stars and the public had been denied.

"I want to know what the story is," continued Crockwell. "That result (vote) should be null and void.

"There is no doubt in my mind that if you have people on the Board and their clubs who are not financial then there should be no way that the vote can count. They should not be allowed to participate. It's definitely not right.

"The years when I was on the Board, one thing we made sure of was that all clubs were financial, that was automatic."

Crockwell said he still hoped that plans would proceed to have a Testimonial match on the weekend of July 27 and 28 but those dates had not been confirmed.

"We have another meeting planned in the near future to discuss what we are going to do after this shake-up. We don't want to deny the public from seeing our older players and enjoying a day of cricket,'' he added.

BCBC president Reginald Pearman said he had no wish to get involved in a public debate over the matter. "I have no comment about those (Crockwell) remarks," he said.

Meanwhile, Crockwell has confirmed that his committee will go ahead with plans to honour the late Dudley Ebbin, a well-known cricket administrator in the 1970s and '80s who died recently.

"Several months ago we thought it would be an excellent idea to honour him during our game this summer and though he has passed it remains our intent to bestow him with an award for his long service to the sport of cricket.

"We would probably have a member of his family come forward to receive the award when the time comes. I knew that he had been sick for some time but it was still a shock when he passed and my condolences are extended to his family from our committee and me and my family."