Violence reared its ugly head in cricket for the second month in a row on Sunday when three umpires were allegedly pushed and threatened by a team official and players of Willow Cuts.

The incident occurred in the dressing room at Somerset after Willow Cuts had lost against visiting St. George's in a Premier Division game.

Wilbur Pitcher, one of the umpires on the receiving end of the abuse, described the incident as "disgusting''.

And it is understood that some umpires are refusing to officiate Willow Cuts games and more may now follow their lead.

Umpires Pitcher, Maxwell Curtis and George Francis apparently incurred the anger of Willow Cuts players and officials when Curtis called a controversial no-ball.

Willow Cuts were fielding at the time and had broken the rules by having too few fielders inside the circle.

Though it appeared to be a trivial matter, the Willow Cuts protests continued after the end of the match.

And lively exchanges in the dressing room turned ugly when some players and officials allegedly pushed the umpires around.

Most of the abuse was directed at Curtis and Francis, who was present only after having finished umpiring a match at nearby White Hill field.

Pitcher, who is president of the Bermuda Cricket Umpires Association, was reluctant to comment about the matter in detail because it was going to be a major item on their agenda during their meeting last night, but he was clearly distressed about what happened.

"Yes, an incident did happen up there and it was terrible. But at this time the umpires' association have to get together and submit a report to the board,'' he said.

"But I can say that it involved both players and the coach of Willow Cuts and it was disgusting.

"The players just don't know the rules. If they are caught short outside of the circle the umpire has every right to call no-ball and that's what happened.'' Umpire Curtis was at the centre of another, uglier dispute in June at Wellington Oval which resulted in Flatts batsman Rodney Woolridge being handed a five-year ban by the BCBC.

After being given out lbw by Curtis, the player kicked down his stumps and threw them around in disgust.

While no official actually received a body blow at Somerset, the pushing, shoving and abuse thrown at them caused grave concern to BCUA officials who are considering withdrawing their services for Willow Cuts games.

An umpire, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "Some of our members are sick and tired with Willow Cuts. I know of two who refuse to do their matches anymore.

"When you get somebody as well known as their coach, a prominent former Cup Match player, who physically involves himself in a confrontation with officials after a game then something must be done.

"What really bothers us is that Willow Cuts skipper didn't take the initiative and control his players' temper when the no-ball was called on the field of play, nor did he show leadership in attempting to control the matter in the dressing room.'' No Willow Cuts officials were available for comment yesterday.