West Indies head coach Daren Sammy has questioned the officiating of TV umpire Adrian Holdstock after a series of contentious decisions marred the second day of the first Test against Australia in Barbados.
Sammy met with match referee Javagal Srinath to gain clarity on the review process. His concerns stem partly from Holdstock’s umpiring during the recent ODI series in England, where Sammy felt there were inconsistencies.
Disputed Calls Leave West Indies Frustrated
Two decisions in particular upset the West Indies camp. First, captain Roston Chase was given out lbw to Pat Cummins, though the team believed there was an inside edge. Later, Shai Hope was caught behind by Alex Carey off Beau Webster in a decision that was upheld on review.
“𝑾𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒓𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒊𝒔,” 𝑺𝒂𝒎𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅. “𝑾𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒚. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒔𝒌 𝒇𝒐𝒓.”
Sammy added that he had reservations about Holdstock’s officiating dating back to England.
“𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒅, 𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒓 𝒖𝒎𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒆, 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅. “𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈.”
When asked directly if he was referring to Holdstock, Sammy confirmed:
“𝒀𝒆𝒂𝒉, 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒖𝒎𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒔. 𝑰𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎?”
He continued:
“𝑺𝒐 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔… 𝒔𝒐 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓. 𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆, 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝑻𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒎𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒔.”
Formal Complaint Under Consideration
On whether the West Indies would file a formal complaint, Sammy said:
“𝒀𝒐𝒖’𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒂𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕.”
He acknowledged that the team had also contributed to their own difficulties by dropping catches but felt the decisions were adding unnecessary pressure:
“𝒀𝒆𝒔, 𝒘𝒆’𝒓𝒆 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒚 𝒅𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑻𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉, [𝒖𝒔] 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔, 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆’𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒏.”
Comparing Calls on Similar Incidents
Regarding Chase’s dismissal, which broke a vital 67-run stand with Hope, Sammy insisted:
“𝑰𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒐𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒘𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒅.”
He compared Hope’s caught-behind dismissal with a similar incident on the first day, when Travis Head’s edge was ruled not out:
“𝑰’𝒎 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒋𝒖𝒅𝒈𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒆𝒆,” 𝑺𝒂𝒎𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅. “𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒖𝒃𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕.”
He added:
“𝑨𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏, 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆’𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒏, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒔. 𝑾𝒆’𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒔. 𝑴𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆. 𝑰 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔.”
Australia Also Left Puzzled
Australia, too, were left scratching their heads over an lbw review early on day two. Mitchell Starc felt there was evidence that Chase’s pad had been struck before the bat, but Holdstock ruled there was not enough to overturn the on-field decision.
Starc commented:
“𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆’𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅. “𝑶𝒃𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒍𝒚 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒖𝒔.”
On the early lbw appeal, he added:
“𝑶𝒏𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒖𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒈𝒂𝒑 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍, 𝒊𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒖𝒔 40-𝒐𝒅𝒅 𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒔.”
Starc also noted a possible technical issue:
“𝑰𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆, 𝒐𝒓 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒚𝒏𝒄 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚.”
He remarked that the Australians believed Head’s edge to Hope on day one had been a fair catch.
Sammy Stresses Focus Despite Frustration
Sammy said he was aware of the risks of criticizing match officials and didn’t want players distracted:
“𝑾𝒆 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒆𝒔. 𝑾𝒆 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒂𝒓𝒅,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅. “𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕.”
Despite the frustrations and missed opportunities, Sammy remained hopeful:
“𝑳𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑻𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉, [𝒖𝒔] 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔, 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆’𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒏.”
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