With Cup Match 2025 in the books, it is uncertain whether Terryn Fray and Zeri Tomlinson will be given serious consideration respectively for the most valuable player and sportsmanship awards.

But they should be.

There are other compelling candidates, including Delray Rawlins and Zeko Burgess from St George’s, but in an Annual Classic that will be remembered for many of the wrong reasons, the Somerset captain stood out as a beacon of hope for this and future generations.

Meanwhile, Tomlinson, at age 18 and one of five colts in the match, should be commended for not only keeping his composure in the face of over-the-top bullying from the host team but also for yielding to his conscience in resisting the spite and temptation to run out a St George’s player when well within his rights to do so.

It is a virtual certainty that had the shoe been on the other foot, and a Somerset batter wandered out of his crease in a bizarre attempt to presumably check on an opponent’s health — as Rawlins did before the ball was dead when he slog-swept hard into the midsection of close fielder Alex Dore, who was stunned but stumbled away under his own steam — St George’s would have run him out and asked welfare questions later.

That was the tone that had been set by the home side, whose struggles of the past 12 years mean that an “anything goes” approach appears to be perfectly acceptable in an event which was created 123 years ago to celebrate our emancipation with three matches adorned by picnics, but which has descended into a tribal war.

Mary Prince would weep were she here now.

The standards of behaviour at Cup Match have declined significantly from the more gentlemanly years of old. Over the past quarter-century in which societal standards in this country have fallen off a cliff as murder rates have increased, we have witnessed cricketers in the Annual Classic spitting at each other, raising bats to one another, hitting stumps out of the ground after disputed decisions, and getting involved in mini-brawls on the pitch.

In the main, these have been isolated incidents, which could be easily swept under the carpet by the offenders’ many enablers. Rather absurdly, they attribute this conduct to “passion”, “heart”, “loyalty”, “winning mentality”. But what happened over the course Thursday and Friday, for its sustained hostility and unchecked aggression whose reach extended to the on-field umpires, ranks the match this year as the worst of the worst.

We expected St George’s to come out with fire on their home patch. And we also expected that Tomlinson, who had been a prospect in the east before making the surprise decision to switch to Somerset this year, would come in for a bit of stick.

But St George’s — in particular former captains Onias Bascome and Macai Simmons — would take their version of mental disintegration too far. This same pair had by then already shown their intent to make life excessively difficult for Somerset and the five-man umpiring crew — Bascome by squirting water into the face of incoming batter Tre Manders at the fall of the first wicket, and Simmons by shoulder-charging the same batter as he continued his walk to the middle.

Both Code of Conduct offences, and there would be more to come. Much more.

Tomlinson’s first innings was a brief one, trapped leg-before by Burgess, after which an out-of-control Bascome was flying into his face hurling “pleasantries”, followed by team-mate Nzari Paynter.

More code violations if the officials were paying attention.

The verbal abuse continued, but once Tomlinson and Manders were dismissed, the heat was turned down appreciably until it was St George’s turn to bat. And as karma would have it, first Simmons and then Bascome would be given out to contentious leg-before decisions while batting well, prompting each to voice their displeasure in theatrically unacceptable fashion — one having a go at umpire Alex Knight and the other ranting against umpire Marc McCormack.

Equal opportunity abusers, then.

By the end of the first day’s play, Fray had had enough and took the unprecedented approach to use his Fraystar Institute platform on social media to call out both clubs for their lack of deportment:

“After what we experienced today, we felt the need to share this. We are deeply saddened that our youngsters had to witness numerous offences on the field today. This is no example for the youth, nor is it what cricket fans come to watch. The incidents today sparked many conversations, even between the older generations of cricketers who do not want to return tomorrow to watch the foolishness that happened today. I implore every club, every coach, every captain to hold these offenders accountable for their behaviour. I implore sponsors to have conversations with clubs to ensure that behavioural standards are met by players. We must change this way of cricket for the betterment of the sport ... for the future of the sport, for the youngsters of the sport.”

It is one thing to be a keyboard warrior, but to his immense credit, the Somerset, Bailey’s Bay and Bermuda captain doubled down during the trophy presentation on what he intimated on Facebook, with all the offenders, sponsors and the Governor in his midst.

It was the greatest show of leadership that could be found anywhere and at anytime during Cup Match.

Fray’s sentiments were echoed all over, whether you bleed Red and Blue or Blue and Blue, as this was the worst that many had seen in their lifetimes.

No matter what provoked this plumbing of the depths of sportsmanship before the match between supposed friends, and in some cases national team colleagues, with such widespread disapproval of their players’ antics, the clubs — both clubs — must take action now to ensure that 2026 in Somerset is a sea change from the tarnished remnants of 2025.

In many ways, it has undermined the several months of great work by the host club in putting on Cup Match. Instead of lapping up due praise for turning Wellington Oval into a lush theatre of all possibilities, club president Mishael Paynter and his executive are fielding questions and commentary about players behaving badly.

What a slap in the face. They deserve better.

It wouldn’t hurt if we got back to the picnic days of our forefathers, the immediate descendants of those enslaved in Bermuda. When these matches made a priority respect for the game, for each other and, last but not least, the umpires.

Oh yes, the umpires.

It is bad enough for players to fall foul of the Code of Conduct for disputing umpiring decisions, but particularly in this quite unique space where the clubs themselves are the ones who select the umpires — an invidious fact that has no parallels in any other major sports events here or anywhere else in the world.

You would think they have enough to do in organising the grounds and selecting the teams.

Imagine Argentina and France having a say in the identity of the on-field match officials in the Fifa World Cup final.

India and Australia in the Cricket World Cup final.

The Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl.

Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals.

You get the gist. It would be unthinkable. For reasons that should be obvious, the most glaring being ethical integrity.

Like many other “traditions” in Cup Match that have been done away with over time — loss of hosting rights after a home defeat in the first year and the locking-in of reserves, to name a few — it is a relic of a stranglehold that is offensive to every DEIB tenet and must be made extinct.