West Indies head coach Darren Sammy stated that the umpires and match officials admitted that there were some errors in their judgement during the side's clash against Australia in Barbados. Notably, there were two big decisions that should have gone in the favour of the West Indies, but ended up going the other way on Day 2.
Two controversial decisions went in Australia's favour
The first was the dismissal of Roston Chase, who was adjudged lbw on a delivery bowled by Pat Cummins. However, despite there being clear evidence of an inside edge, the batter was still told to make his way back to the pavilion. The second decision was the dismissal of Shai Hope, who got caught behind by Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey. Though he seemed to have grassed the catch, the batter was still given out by the third umpire following the review.
Following the controversial second day, Sammy went on to blast match officials in a media interaction and this earned him a 15 per cent match fee fine for a Level 1 breach of the International Cricket Council's (ICC) Code of Conduct. In a recent statement, Sammy said that he didn't want his players to attend the post-match press conference due to the harsh questions that would have been posed at them by the reporters.
"We've had further chats [with the officials]. They've clarified some stuff. There has been some admission of error as well. This was Barbados, and we're now in Grenada, so we've left that behind," Sammy said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
"I said I wouldn't want my players to do that press conference because of the questions I think that would have been posted at them, I strongly believed in what I said," he added.
Sammy also revealed that he doesn't hold any grudges with umpire Adrian Holdstock and wished him the best ahead of the second Test of the ongoing three-match series between West Indies and Australia which is set to be played at the National Cricket Stadium in Grenada from July 3.
"I don't hold grudges. I said what I said, based on what I saw. I've been punished for it. I wish Adrian all the best, to be honest. I mean, we're all human. I have nothing against the umpires. I really wish he has an awesome game," Sammy stated.
Meanwhile, Australia emerged victorious in the first Test by a massive 159-run margin. After being given a target of 301, the hosts suffered a batting collapse during the final session of Day 3 and ended up losing all their ten wickets for just 141 runs. Josh Hazlewood was the star performer for the Baggy Greens in the final innings, finishing with stunning figures of 5/43.