St. David's opening batsman Phillip (Billy Joe) Pitcher may have evaded the wrath of umpires Randy Butler and Anthony Fubler for his part in a scuffle with St. George's' Sinclair Gibbons, but not the Islanders' strict disciplinary committee.

And if the hard-hitting bat had intentions of making an impression on the St. George's Cup Match selectors this year, it appears his recent antics haven't helped his cause.

Summoned before the St. David's disciplinary committee at a meeting held at Lord's last week, the burly player was handed out a two-match suspension for unsportsmanlike conduct following the the incident with Gibbons which occurred during the May 26 Premier League match against neighbours St. George's.

Sources close to the committee, who asked to remain anonymous, confirmed yesterday that Pitcher had been suspended.

He was noticeably absent from the St. David's line-up during last weekend's match against Bailey's Bay.

“Anybody in our programme that becomes involved in any controversy, we usually deal with them ourselves as opposed to going to the Board (Bermuda Cricket Board of Control),” revealed one source.

“Pitcher has been suspended for two games and as far as we are concerned the matter is over with. Nobody else really wanted to deal with it, but at St. David's we try to keep our own programme on track. So it has been dealt with and he (Pitcher) has a two-game suspension and that's that.”

Pitcher was leaving the crease after having been given out in the match against St. George's when he exchanged words with wicketkeeper Gibbons. The players are then reported to have swapped blows and fallen to the ground before being separated by other players and officials.

But umpire Randy Butler said his official report to the Board would not document the incident as it did not result directly from an umpiring decision.

However Butler pleaded with the two clubs to settle their differences, noting that there had been ‘bad blood' between the two teams for several years.

The last two St. David's players to be summoned before the club's disciplinary committee were Clay Smith and Lionel Cann following an incident during a match at Southampton Oval in which the two players were also deemed to have brought the game into disrepute.

Pitcher will be eligible to return to the Islanders' team for their June 16 fixture against Cleveland.

Meanwhile, on a lighter note, St. David's top all-rounder Lionel Cann, currently regaining match fitness in the Commercial Division, is expected to join the club's Premier Division side within the next two weeks.

Cann suffered a knee injury just prior to the start of the season.

BCBC's Under -19 Parish Youth League swings into action tomorrow.

The league will be comprised of eight teams - Devonshire, Hamilton Parish, St. David's, Sandy's, St.George's, Southampton, Smith's and a combined Warwick/Paget outfit.

Only players born on or after September 1, 1982 will be eligible to play.

All games are 40-over contests with no bowler allowed to exceed eight overs during their spell.

Matches are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. or 11 a.m. with a lunch break from 12.45 to 1.15 p.m.

The Under-13 league will begin next Friday with the Under-15s to commence the following day.

Southampton and Smith's are the only two parishes yet to form a squad for the Under-13 Division.

All players born on or before September 1, 1988 are eligible to participate in the Under- 13 league while players in the Under-15 league have to be born on or after September 1, 1986.

All Under-13 fixtures are 25-over contests while the Under-15s will play 35 overs. Under-13 matches begin at 5.30 p.m. and the Under-15s at 10 a.m. or 11 a.m.