By Lawrence Booth for the Daily Mail
Published: 22:30 BST, 12 June 2019 | Updated: 00:12 BST, 13 June 2019
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West Indies fast-bowling legend Michael Holding was at the centre of a censorship row after it emerged he had been warned by the ICC's broadcast partners not to criticise umpiring at the World Cup.
Holding was among several commentators to receive an email from Huw Bevan, the head of cricket at production company Sunset & Vine, urging them not to 'amplify mistakes by giving airtime to those incidents'.
The email arrived the day after Holding had described the umpiring during the game between Australia and West Indies as 'atrocious', prompting him to ask whether he was needed the following day for the England-Bangladesh game in Cardiff.
Michael Holding has been warned about criticising World Cup umpires when commentating
The situation was resolved after a further email reassured commentators they would not be censored.
But Sportsmail understands Bevan's warning did not go down well with the ICC, who are privately distancing themselves from the idea that they would ever gag members of their global commentary team.
The controversy erupted after umpire Chris Gaffaney failed to spot a big no-ball from Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc to