Leon “Kuma” Rodney. (File photo)
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By Neto Baptiste
The President of the Antigua and Barbuda Cricket Association (ABCA), Leon “Kuma” Rodney, is adamant that the body made the correct decision in disqualifying defending Super40 champions Liberta Blackhawks from contesting Sunday’s final against New Winthorpes Lions over an alleged breach of the association’s player eligibility laws.
His assertion comes even amidst his own admission that the body could have chosen to suspend Sunday’s final by a week and allow Blackhawks an opportunity to appeal the ruling made by the competitions committee.
“Maybe we could have gone the route of postponing the game until next week [but] I am satisfied in my mind that the leadership [of Liberta] knows that it was wrong to play the player and the decision was made, whether in hindsight you want to thinking it was rightfully or wrongfully so.
“I think I am a very reasonable individual because I heard up to [Sunday] that it is because of Empire. It would be fair for anyone to assume that because it’s Empire the decision was made, but I know that would never happen with me whether it’s with Empire or another team. What the situation was is that once we would have gotten a complaint from whosoever the other team would have been, it would have had to have been looked at,” he said.
Blackhawks had featured West Indies Academy player Rivaldo Clarke for the first time this season. Clarke top-scored for Blackhawks with 72 runs.
Rodney said that in hindsight, the rule should have been altered to state two matches instead of four, given that the competition was contested in group format instead of its usual round-robin format.
“That would have to be deemed as an oversight by the ABCA because it would have been a nonsensical situation that if when we have the long tournament you have to play four matches. However, my understanding is that it should have really been two matches but nevertheless, the situation is that for a long time now, the rules are very clear that overseas have to meet a certain qualification in order to play in the semifinals and if you’re not from Antigua or the Leewards then you are an overseas player,” the president said.
The Liberta team, following a dominant 10-wickets triumph over rivals Empire Nation on Saturday, were informed via WhatsApp message that same night, that they had been disqualified for breach of rule 18.7 in the playing conditions which states “Overseas players must play at least four (4) preliminary matches to be eligible to play the semi-finals and finals”.
At least one other executive member, Kenny Lewis, has denied the president’s claims the body opted to disqualify Liberta, claiming a consensus was reached to postpone the final and seek legal advice, a statement Rodney refutes but opted not to go into details.
“I am not going to be having that discussion in the public, so if Kenny wants to do that then he can do that but I am not going to have that discussion in public. I understand that he [Kenny Lewis] might want to say that because he would have been the one who brought that up but if you go back and question the people who were on the call that he was also a part of,” he said.
When contacted, President of the Liberta “Sports Club and former West Indies fast bowler, Kenneth “Flipper” Benjamin, declined to comment but hinted that the club will be seeking legal redress.
New Winthorpes Lions went on to claim the Super40 title, easily beating Empire Nation by eight wickets on Sunday at New Winthorpes.
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