Willow Cuts coach Dexter Basden has vented his frustration over the Bermuda Cricket Board’s decision not to grant his team home advantage for their First Division KO Cup semi-final against Devonshire last weekend.

The Cuts team failed to turn up for the game at Devonshire Rec after the BCB decided to hold the semi-final at the central venue despite the West End side finishing higher than their rivals in the league.

That decision angered Basden, who is adamant the match should have been played at Somerset Cricket Club instead.

“Southampton Rangers won the league and they got home advantage against PHC in their semi-final,” he told The Royal Gazette.

“We came second and Devonshire third, yet the BCB wanted us to play our game at the Rec, which is not right. They obliged Rangers, but what about us?

“It’s not fair and I told Cal Blankendal [BCB executive director] that I am disappointed in those that drew up the schedule. We had a lengthy talk and I told him I am very disappointed in the Board for the way they scheduled this game.”

Basden said attempts by the BCB to have the game played at a neutral ground were unsuccessful.

“From what I understand they tried to have the match played at PHC but they didn’t have enough manpower to prepare the wicket,” Basden said.

“They chose to call PHC, which is not our home field. PHC turned them down so their next step was to call the Rec. But what about Somerset Cricket Club? That’s our home ground, so why can’t we play there?”

Basden claims the BCB had been advised by Somerset that their ground was available for use.

“I spoke to an official at Somerset who told the BCB that the field was open for Willow Cuts to play, but they never called back,” he said.

Cuts ultimately boycotted the match, with their opponents advancing to the final after the umpires declared the match a forfeit. Basden said his team took that stance to help prevent similar situations from happening in the future.

“We had 13 players that wanted to play but we decided to boycott this game so that down the road the BCB can think better when it comes to scheduling,” he said.

“Hopefully in the future it doesn’t happen again.”

Basden confirmed his club is not going to appeal against the result, while officials at the BCB have made themselves unavailable for comment.