Mystery now shrouds Janeiro Tucker's appeal against a Bermuda Cricket Board (BCB) ban from all cricket.

The Southampton Rangers player/coach was slapped with a six-match suspension by BCB after returning from Kenya and Dubai with the senior national team last November for allegedly swearing at umpire Hector Watson during a Premier Division match at Southampton Oval late last season.

Tucker, who has categorically denied committing the offence, later appealed against the Board's ruling while his club paid the required $250 fee to file an appeal.

However, since appealing against the BCB ban neither Tucker or his club have yet to receive a reply from local cricket's governing body - or a definitive date as to when the appeals process can be held.

Yet when contacted yesterday BCB senior executive Gary Fray confirmed Tucker's appeal had already taken place, with the appeals committee having "reached a decision".

"The appeals committee dealt with the matter. . . . it's finished. I don't know if he's (Tucker) received his correspondence yet - but a decision was reached before the new year," insisted Fray, who declined to reveal the nature of the appeal committee's decision.

"All I know is that a letter was supposed to be sent to Southampton Rangers and Janeiro Tucker . . . that's all I know."

However, Tucker, who has been ruled out of Bermuda's involvement in next month's Stanford 20/20 Tournament in Antigua, painted a totally different picture yesterday.

He said: "I haven't heard anything from them (BCB) while nobody seems to know what's going on. I never even got a reply from them once the appeal was submitted. I haven't had any appeal or know anything about it yet."

Tucker was originally scheduled to go before the Board's disciplinary committee last October but had his hearing pushed back. It was later learned that a request by national coach Gus Logie to reschedule the cricketer's hearing to enable him to tour Kenya and Dubai with the senior national squad was upheld by BCB executives.

"It was a Board decision that was taken that we suspend his (Tucker's) hearing until he comes back and he was duly informed," BCB president Reggie Pearman told The Royal Gazette last month.

It was a decision that did not sit too well with former St. George's Cup Match star and Bermuda manager Dennis Wainwright .

"We must deal with matters as they arise and not for the convenience of certain individuals. If we continue to give into demands and swallow principles to satisfy the coach then we are asking for trouble," he argued.

"To make a decision after they have bent over backwards to accommodate him and then have an appeal pending, with the possibility of them losing, could make them look silly. And as a Board you don't want to put yourself in that position."