ALL of those who have found themselves standing before a Bermuda Cricket Board disciplinary committee in the last few years – and God knows there's been plenty of them – must have been feeling slightly aggrieved this week.

While they had to pack away their bats and pads for a few weeks, some even longer, they now must be wondering why they were punished so severely when our assistant national coach, Herbie Bascome, received no more than a rap on the knuckles for what, by ICC standards, might be considered a Level Two offence – knocking down the stumps – and in the pro game would warrant both a fine and suspension.

Indeed, Bascome could be considered a professional as he's paid by the BCB.

He claims he demolished the wicket unintentionally in a game last month and then attempted to repair the damage. The BCB believed him (or did they?) and as such warned the veteran player for "fixing the stumps."

They said in a press release "it was not his role to repair the stumps and reprimanded him accordingly."

What utter nonsense!

How many times has a wicketkeeper swiped at the wicket attempting a stumping and then straightened the stumps and replaced the bails?

How many times has a fielder unsuccessfully attempted a run-out and then put the stumps back in their proper position.

Have they been 'written up' by the umpire for "fixing the stumps"? Of course not.

What makes the bizarre Bascome issue so remarkable is that the umpire, Kent Gibbons, reported the incident exactly as it occurred.

The St. George's player took a mighty swipe at the ball, missed, and then turned around and swung his bat through the stumps. Realising his mistake, he immediately put the stumps back in place and quickly walked off the field.

According to eye-witnesses, it was an instant reaction borne out of frustration. And in truth, it was the kind of reaction that many of us have been guilty of one time or another during our sports careers.

But the point remains, and one which will no doubt rile other cricketers – former national team player and BCB executive Gladstone (Sad) Brown was once banned for a year for a similar offence – is that the Board tried to orchestrate a cover-up, knowing full well that suspending their assistant national coach would be enormously embarrassing. They might even have had to relieve him of his duties.

So they and their disciplinary committee claim what he did was "unintentional".

And in the press release put out last Friday, they tried to blame this newspaper for distorting the facts. Misleading and irresponsible reporting, they whined.

Make up your own minds as exactly who is misleading the public and the hundred of players who fall under their umbrella.

Exactly who is being irresponsible?

BCB president Reggie Pearman and chief executive Neil Speight concocted a wildly inaccurate statement that was sent to all sections of the media, claiming that Gibbons had corroborated with the Board to reach the conclusion that Bascome's actions were not intended.

But the umpire never did any such thing. In fact, it was almost the opposite.

He submitted his report detailing the incident as it happened. He never once indicated it was 'unintentional'. And he told this newspaper as such.

Who do you believe?

Perhaps we should sue the BCB for libel. Wouldn't that be something? Isn't it usually the other way around, the sporting body taking legal action against the newspaper?

In many ways, those who don't follow cricket might think the entire issue is a storm in a tea cup.

Some will accuse this paper of focusing on the negative and forgetting the positive.

But they don't have a case. From Cup Match down to Commercial League, press conferences to almost every international tour, the Gazette reports the good, the bad and the ugly.

Earlier this week we highlighted the ambitions of batsman Stephen Outerbridge, one of the national team's most disciplined cricketers both on and off the field, as he sets his sights on a career in the English County game.

On that basis, we would vigorously defend any accusations of sensationalism.

The Board have both a fiscal and moral responsibilty. In the past few years they've been funded by millions of dollars of taxpayers' hard-earned cash.

A cover-up to protect their assistant national coach hardly enhances an already questionable reputation.

Let's face it, Bermuda cricket on both the international and domestic front is in a mess, despite the commendable programmes the BCB have tried to put into place and their efforts to send their top players overseas for better training.

Last Sunday, not a single match of the seven scheduled on the Premier and First Division calendar was played. Teams failed to turn up, grounds were unprepared, and umpires were nowhere to be seen.

What a pitiful way to end the season. Yet we've seen it all before.

The clubs, the players and the officials must all share the blame. But ultimately the buck stops with the governing body.

Will all those who contributed to last Sunday's farce also be hauled before the disciplinary committee and given a smack on the back of the hand? Maybe they, too, will be given the support of the BCB for fear that the governing body might again be portrayed in bad light.

It wasn't too many years ago that the Gazette ran a weekly article under heading of 'Let's Fix It', reporting on areas of the Island that needed cleaning up.

Perhaps it's time to round up the BCB executive, the disciplinary committee, take a photo and run the same headline.

– ADRIAN ROBSON