Umpire Kent Gibbons yesterday refuted claims by Bermuda Cricket Board (BCB) president Reggie Pearman that he had "corroborated" with beleaguered assistant national coach Herbie Bascome during the latter's disciplinary hearing held earlier this month.

Bascome was reprimanded by a BCB disciplinary committee after being written up by umpire Gibbons during an August 24 Premier Division clash at Wellington Oval where he is alleged to have smashed the stumps after playing on.

In a BCB press statement issued late last Friday, president Pearman was quoted as saying, "The reporting umpire, Mr.Kent Gibbons, corroborated Mr.Bascome's version of the events".

However, when reached yesterday senior Bermuda Cricket Umpires Association (BCUA) executive Gibbons dismissed Pearman's claims before declaring: "I will deal with Neil (BCB executive director Neil Speight) when I get back because I never corroborated anything at Mr.Bascome's disciplinary hearing."

Speight e-mailed the BCB statement to local media on behalf of Pearman.

"I wrote exactly what took place (during the August 24 match between St. George's and St. David's)", added Gibbons.

"He (Bascome) did turn around and hit the stumps and then fixed them when I was writing him up. And when I came off the field I informed him that I had written him up. I never corroborated anything with Mr.Bascome at his hearing."

Speight's BCB e-mail maintained that Bascome had not destroyed the stumps intentionally. Instead, the governing body said Bascome immediately attempted to repair the stumps.

That, in itself, said the Board, contravened cricket rules and that was why he received only a reprimand rather than a suspension when he appeared before a disciplinary committee.

"The committee informed Mr.Bascome that it was not his role to repair the stumps and reprimanded him accordingly," Pearman explained.

In the wake of Bascome's alleged transgressions, former cricketers Randy Butler and Dennis Wainwright in reports carried by this newspaper, both expressed outrage over the Board's reluctance to impose harsher punishment on Bascome, who was slapped with a two-year probation for allegedly making xenophobic taunts during St. George's ill-tempered Cup Match triumph over rivals Somerset in the East End in 2005.

"Due to the severity of the incident, I think Herbie should have received more than a reprimand and I don't think the BCB did their homework in this case," Butler argued. "I think for all the records the BCB keep on file, they were too lenient in Herbie's case."

Former Cup Match star Wainwright concurred.

"Anywhere else in the world a case as this would've been dealt with more severely," he claimed. "You would expect better behaviour from people like Herbie but if you commit an offence you have to be dealt with accordingly and not based on your position in sport. If someone knocks down the stumps there shouldn't be any question as to what punishment should be served."

Last season Southampton Rangers wicketkeeper-batsman Kwame Tucker received a four-game ban for knocking down the stumps following his dismissal in a Premier clash.

"It seems as though we have different penalties for different people which is not right. You can't be lenient on Herbie just because he is assistant coach," Wainwright added. "

"We have to stop this business of dealing with people based on who they are and if you are a leader then you should be an example for the rest of your players."

Pearman had said in his press release: "I am gravely disappointed and somewhat frankly amazed at the statements attributed to Mr. Randy Butler regarding a matter where he is completely ignorant of the facts. I am heartened to have official confirmation from the BCUA that his comments are without the authority of their management or membership.

"Had Mr. Butler taken the time to ask what happened before making ridiculous unfounded comments he would have found out or been told that in the disciplinary hearing Mr. Bascome maintained that he did not knock the stumps down intentionally. The reporting umpire, Mr. Kent Gibbons, corroborated Mr. Bascome's version of the events by confirming that having fixed the stumps, Mr. Bascome left the field immediately.

"The committee informed Mr. Bascome that it was not his role to repair the stumps and reprimanded him accordingly. In light of Mr. Gibbons' version of events the facts did not support the charge that Mr. Bascome did not leave the field immediately."

"Once again, The Royal Gazette and Colin Thompson have failed to verify the facts of the matter or make any attempt to contact the Board to enable them to present a balanced story. In particular, his comparison with an offence in a prior season is completely invalid and misleading."

Bascome refused to comment on the incident when he spoke to The Gazette on Friday.