West Indies coach punished by ICC for targeting TV umpire

West Indies cricket team head coach Darren Sammy has been found guilty of breaching the ICC Code of Conduct following the WI vs AUS 1st Test. The former WI captain had lashed out at third umpire Adrian Holdstock following play on Day 2 for his controversial decisions against the hosts. Sammy had gone on to publicly wonder if the official had anything against the Windies, while calling for more consistency.

Sammy fined for speaking against umpire

As a result of his actions, the West Indies coach has been fined 15 percent of his match fee. Additionally, he has also been handed one demerit point. Sammy’s outburst came after a majority of decisions taken by third umpire Holdstock were not only controversial but went against the West Indies, potentially causing them the match.

‘Sammy was found to have violated Article 2.7 of the ICC Code of Conduct, which pertains to “public criticism of, or inappropriate comment in relation to an incident occurring in an international match or any player, player support personnel, match official or team participating in any international match”,’ the release read.

What had the Windies coach said?

The TV umpire pronounced at least five highly debatable decisions across two days, forcing Sammy to take a dig at the standards of umpiring. Speaking to reporters, the West Indies head coach stated that the team was seeking consistency and that they were trying to understand what the process is. Singling out Holdstock, Sammy claimed that he had been behaving in his particular manner against the Windies from the England series onwards.

“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? But when you see decision after decision, then it raises the question. I know he’s here for the series. You don’t want to go in a Test match having that doubt,” Sammy said.