Saleem Mukuddem was last night still waiting for official confirmation of punishment handed out by Bermuda Cricket Board following a charge of bringing the game into disrepute — despite widespread reports over the weekend that he had been handed a year’s probation.

Sources informed The Royal Gazette on Friday afternoon that Mukuddem had avoided a ban for his stinging public criticism of the way in which the BCB handled his one-game suspension during the World Cup.

This newspaper decided not to publish a story until receiving official confirmation from the governing body, but both ZBM and Islandstats.com reported that the South African had indeed been found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute.

The independent three-man committee of Sean Tucker, Vincent Hollinsid and Corneal Smith told Mukuddem immediately after his 30-minute hearing last Wednesday that they would inform the BCB of their ruling the same night.

Under their own disciplinary procedures, the Board are permitted five days to inform the accused player of the decision.

But rather than e-mail the letter to Mukuddem as they did when first informing him of the charge, on this occasion they chose to mail it instead — prompting a five-day delay which Mukuddem had been keen to avoid.

“I haven’t had anything official from the Board as yet — all I’ve seen is what was reported,” he said.

“I don’t know whether it’s true or not but what I would say is that if it is true, then I’m disappointed it has leaked out before I have been officially informed. That’s not the way it is supposed to work.

“Regardless of the decision I will not be making any more public comments on the matter. I had a chance to give my side of the story and the public are now aware of it. That’s all I set out to do. I have done nothing wrong. Anything else I have to say on the matter will be dealt with privately between the Board and myself.

“Right now I’m just looking forward to a fun summer of cricket with the Leg Trappers.”

Meanwhile, assistant national coach Herbie Bascome also faced a disciplinary hearing last Wednesday on a charge of bringing the game into disrepute for a letter he co-wrote with his wife attacking the BCB for cancelling their son Oronde’s cricketing scholarship.

Bascome was found not guilty by the panel.

Much like Mukuddem, the Bascomes questioned the Board’s competence and fairness in their handling of the affair, which saw the BCB announce in February they were withdrawing their support for the former Under-19 skipper because he had, despite warnings, consistently fallen short of his obligations at the University of Wales Institute Cardiff (UWIC).

The decision proved extremely controversial, with former Regiment commanding officer and Under-19 team manager Eddie Lambe among others writing to The Gazette expressing their disgust at the Board’s public assassination of the all-rounder.

The BCB stuck to their guns, however, insisting they had no choice in light of young Bascome’s behaviour while in Cardiff — before charging his father for the letter’s criticisms.

The disciplinary committee reportedly took a sympathetic view of Bascome’s case, although once again no official word has yet been released.