Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Monday said that they would lodge an official complaint to International Cricket Council (ICC) regarding the umpiring and sledging during the recently-concluded first Test against South Africa at Kingsmead in Durban.
The visitors were unhappy after several close calls went against them in Durban, where they remained competitive for most of the match before witnessing a batting collapse which saw them dismissed for 53 in the second innings, thereby losing the contest as well.
Notably, umpires from host countries have been used since 2020, when the pandemic imposed several travel restrictions. South African umpires Marais Erasmus and Adrian Holdstock stood in the opening Test of the ongoing two-match series.
”We will file an official complaint to ICC about umpiring after the series. We have already lodged one complaint about the umpiring after the ODI series, and it was given to the match referee (Andy Pycroft), but he did pay any heed to it,” said BCB cricket operation chairman Jalal Yunus as quoted by Cricbuzz.
“Regarding umpiring decision everyone had seen globally, and we cannot do anything as they are the final judge, but after the Test in Port Elizabeth, we will go with everything that had happened,” he added.
Bangladesh players also experienced the on-field taunts in the form of sledging, which crossed the line into abuse. Yunus mentioned that instead of indulging in an impartial manner during the sledge process, the umpires ended up warning Bangladeshi players.
”You have seen Mominul raised concerns over sledging, and we feel umpires should have told both parties impartially about it, but instead of doing that, they warned our cricketers,” added Yunus.
Notably, Bangladesh captain Mominul Haque had claimed that umpires did not intervene when South African players sledged their Bangladeshi opponents. He said: “Sledging is a normal thing. But if it comes to the stage of abuse, that is very bad. I think they abused us in the worst manner, and umpires did not notice.”
