A Newcastle City and Suburban Cricket Association umpire who received a warning last week over a Facebook post has now been excluded from umpiring duties as the competition's woes continue to pile up.
Michael Burns, who has been involved in cricket for 44 years, has not been assigned to officiate games in the NCSCA Umpires Association's latest allocations for January 25, February 1 and February 8.
Mr Burns was cited by the umpires association after he made a comment on Facebook last month about how the NCSCA board had been handling its finances.
The NCSCA judiciary has banned three new board members, secretary Andrew Kelly, registrar Daniel Saunders and Grant Hutchings, who have agitated for more financial transparency since being elected in August.
Mr Kelly was banned for life from the board and five years from playing for using a false name to try to access information about the association's Bunnings account.
On Sunday, Mr Saunders was also banned for life from the board for commenting in a private Facebook conversation in March in which derogatory comments were allegedly made about a board member and their family.
Mr Hutchings received a five-year ban from the board for participating in the chat, a hard copy of which was leaked to the board. He was banned from playing for the rest of the season.
Another NCSCA director, Roy Capitao, was barred for two years in August for accessing the fuel allowances of directors and this week received a second breach notice over the Facebook chat.
The former board members believe they have been "targeted" for asking too many questions about directors' spending, an allegation NCSCA president Phil Northey strongly denies.
The board's treasurer, Dave Crawford, resigned on Saturday over the "processes and transparency of how the finances in the NCSCA were being managed".
Mr Burns believes the NCSCA board has told the umpires association not to appoint him to any games.
"I don't know what to say. It just proves they're a law unto themselves," he said.
"It looks like they've got rid of all the new board members and now they're moving on to the people who are backing them."
The Newcastle Herald contacted Mr Northey for comment. He said on Monday that "in the next week or two this association will be releasing all documentation on what has transpired".
