St George’s Cricket Club have come under fire from a former Cup Match player for the sanctions they imposed upon senior players Onias Bascome and Macai Simmons in the wake of an incident-filled two days at Wellington Oval last week.

Bascome received an official reprimand and was docked up to 25 per cent of his match after pleading guilty to the Level 1 offence of showing dissent towards at an umpire’s decision. Simmons was also hit in the pocket after being fined between 15 per cent and 50 per cent of his match fee after pleading guilty to a Level 2 offence of showing serious dissent at an umpire’s decision.

However, the sanctions have drawn fierce criticism from the public and former Cup Match players such as star Somerset wicketkeeper Barry DeCouto, who feels the punishments were far too lenient.

“Totally out of order and as a former Bermuda international and Cup Match player, I believe these cricketers should be suspended from representing St George’s for a minimum of three years for their violation of Law 42,” he told The Royal Gazette.

“Calvin ‘Bummy’ Symonds and Rupert Scotland [former St George’s players], who I played under, would’ve sent you off the field without hesitation.

“No cricketer is bigger than the game and I recall when Sir Viv Richards received a two-year ban from cricket when he was a 17-year-old in 1969.

“This ban resulted from an incident during a Leeward Islands tournament match between Antigua and St Kitts. After being dismissed for a golden duck, much to the dismay of the crowd, Richards was given a second opportunity to bat due to crowd unrest and was out for another duck on his second chance. The authorities subsequently banned him for two years.”

St George’s legend Clarence Parfitt has also called for the Cup Match clubs to ban their players responsible for the bad behaviour.

“They are not bigger than the game and need to be suspended by the clubs to set an example,” said the Annual Classic’s all-time leading wicket-taker, who targeted St George’s coach Clay Smith.

“The two clubs themselves have to solve this because you can’t continue doing things like that. But it starts with the coach. If you remember, he was one of the leaders [of antisocial behaviour], always into people’s faces, and you can’t play cricket like that. That’s not cricket and it’s disappointing to see.

“The discipline is not there and if you look at it, what’s your national team like? All these players are playing in the national team, so are they representing Bermuda, right or not?”

Smith, who is one of a select few to have scored more than 1,000 runs in Cup Match but is now on international duty in Atlanta coaching the Bermuda Under-19 team, declined to respond to Parfitt’s comments.

Simmons and Bascome escaped punishment for respectively barging and throwing water into the face of Somerset batter Tre Manders while he was on his way to the crease. Nor was any disciplinary action taken against Simmons for allegedly assaulting Somerset coach Janeiro Tucker after the Cup Match trophy ceremony.

During the incident, Somerset president Richard Scott and his St George’s counterpart, Mishael Paynter, tried unsuccessfully to restrain Simmons, who was removed from the vicinity by police officers who were on hand to provide post-match security.

“Chinky [Simmons] came across and said something to Janeiro and we all like ‘what’s that all about?’” Scott said.

“He took his finger and poked Janeiro in his temple and at that point that’s when Mishael and I got in between and Reid [Somerset groundsman Reid Jones] was like, ‘just separate these guys’. Thankfully, the police were still there.”

Simmons has declined to comment on the matter.

As well as announcing the sanctions imposed on their players, St George’s have apologised to the public for their behaviour and for breaking of the Code of Conduct.

It understood Somerset colt Dalin Richardson has been charged for committing a Level 1 offence, with Scott vowing to take disciplinary action against any player deemed to have displayed unsportsmanlike conduct during the match.

However, Scott confirmed yesterday that no sanctions have been imposed on any club player.

“We haven’t received the umpires report as yet,” he said. “Once we get the umpires report, we will proceed accordingly.”