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St George’s should have handled Gibbons fallout better — Parfitt

Treadwell Gibbons stands his ground after being given out by umpire Richard Austin (left) at Cup Match. Moments later Gibbons directed his anger towards the Somerset players before captain Oronde Bascome (centre) urged him to leave the field. Yesterday Gibbons apologised for his actions. (Photo by Akil Simmons)

Pressure is mounting on St George’s Cricket Club to take responsibility for the actions of their Cup Match player Treadwell Gibbons Jr who brought this year’s classic at Wellington Oval into disrepute.Nearly two weeks have passed since the temperamental all rounder brought the gentlemen’s game into disrepute and his club has yet to impose any sanctions or, at the very least, make a public statement on their player’s behaviour that marred the match.And this, says former St George’s Cup Match skipper and star bowler Clarence Parfitt, is unacceptable.“I know Neil Paynter (St George’s president) said he’s waiting for the umpire’s report and he should have had it by now,” said Parfitt, Cup Match’s all-time leading wicket-taker (115). “But he’s (Gibbons) made a statement and now St George’s have to come out with their statement and they should’ve said something by now.“All they have done is stuck to this no comment but everybody in the world saw what happened so they should have their say. They have to make statements and not protect him because that’s not helping the matter. A lot of people, including youngsters, saw the incident and you can’t do things like that.”St George’s president Paynter did not return calls to this newspaper yesterday.Gibbons brought the game into disrepute after he was given out caught at slip by Janeiro Tucker by umpire Richard Austin, a decision he strongly disputed. After Austin consulted fellow umpire Oscar Andrade and then spoke to the Somerset captain Jekon Edness, he indicated to Gibbons that the decision would stand. The player continued to show his displeasure and subsequently vented his anger towards the Somerset players, waving his bat as he approached them before batting partner, captain Oronde Bascome, intervened and urged his teammate to leave the field. Gibbons continued to show his anger as he left the field during an exchange with a spectator near the clubhouse.“It was never an intention of mine to hurt anyone or hit anyone,” an apologetic Gibbons told the media at a press conference earlier this week. “My actions on the second day of Cup Match were wrong, I got caught up in the heat of the moment.”Parfitt, who helped pave the way for Gibbons to play for Arbroath Cricket Club in Scotland several years ago, admitted he was disappointed over the player’s antics. “I was disappointed in his attitude,” he said. “I don’t know what happened and it seemed to be words going on but he’s got to learn to turn the other cheek and walk because sometimes the decision goes your way and sometimes it doesn’t.”Gibbons, who plays club cricket for Cleveland County, has a history of disciplinary run-ins.In 2003 he was axed from Bermuda’s Under-19 squad and banned six games for fighting teammate George O’Brien Jr during a practice session at the National Sports Centre and believed to have been reprimanded for displaying unsportsmanlike conduct at the West Indies Cricket Board Under-19 Youth Tournament in Jamaica.In 2007 Gibbons received a two-year ban for showing “serious dissent at an umpire’s decision, threatening to assault an umpire and using foul language or gestures that seriously offend, insult, humiliate, intimidate or vilifies another person on the basis of that person’s race, religion, colour or ethnic origin after refusing to walk after being given lbw out during a match”. The player’s lengthy ban was later reduced to eight games on appeal.“He’s a bit hot headed and he’s just got to grow up and realise he just can’t do this type of thing,” Parfitt said. “I read a piece in the paper where he’s going to get anger management which I think is a good thing.”Parfitt gave credit to Gibbons for publicly owning up to his behaviour that cast a dark cloud over his club and believes that with support the player can “curtail” his temper and get on with his career.“He’s man enough and given the right support I think he can overcome this,” he said. “He’s a talented boy but he needs support because he’s a bit hot tempered. If he can curtail that he’ll probably be okay, but he needs to get that sorted first.”