Rodney: Blackhawks matter with appeals committee, ABCA awaits ruling

President of the Antigua and Barbuda Cricket Association (ABCA), Leon “Kuma” Rodney, said the body is still awaiting the ruling from its appeals committee regarding the matter involving the PIC Liberta Blackhawks and Empire Nation cricket team.
Blackhawks, in July, appealed an earlier decision by the association’s disciplinary committee to award the Two Day finals to Empire Nation after the match was called off following a dispute over whether or not an Empire player should have been allowed to bat at the time that he was sent to the crease.
“All the documentation was sent to Mr. Clement Bird because he is the one leading that team. I spoke to him because he was off-island and told me he was coming back at a certain date and as far as I understand he did come back but left again but those documents are with him and he will guide us accordingly in that direction,” he said. 
The association, in a press release issued in July, announced that Empire Nation was awarded the match based on the report written by the officials when the incident occurred in June.
President of the Liberta Sports Club and former West Indies fast bowler, Kenneth Benjamin, accused the association of making a “sentimental decision” and he believes that the decision will be overturned.
Since then however, there has been no movement on the issue. Rodney said the association can only wait and allow the committee to do its job.
“I will agree that it appears to be taking a little while, but at the end of the day we the [cricket association executive] can’t do it so we have to have somebody who is doing it and he’s the person leading that, we had spoken to him and he agreed to deal with that. It appears that way [that his schedule is busy] but I will not want to dwell on it. I will wait until he comes back with whatsoever he comes back with and we will just give out the information as we get it,” the cricket boss said.
Reports are that Blackhawks had argued the legitimacy of allowing one Empire’s Damian Lowenfield to bat at number three in the order, after the said player had left the match after batting on the previous day because of work commitments.
Blackhawks argued that, in accordance with the laws of the game, Lowenfield was only eligible to bat after five wickets had fallen. Empire were reportedly 77 for three at the time of the dispute.
Blackhawks were ahead on first innings when the incident occurred.