Clay: We lacked consistency

Until the island's cricketers give their all to the national cause, Bermuda will continue to play second fiddle at the international level.

That's the view of former Bermuda skipper Clay Smith in the wake of the island's recent involvement in the Americas Regional Division One 50 over and 20/20 Championships on local turf.

The St. George's coach feels the island's cricketers failed to live up to expectations — but did show glimpses of promise during the tournaments.

He said: "I thought they gave a fair showing but obviously I think we could've batted a bit better than we did. If there was one department where we let ourselves down it was probably in the batting.

"But to be quite honest nobody really stood out, everybody played in spurts. There was no real consistency and as a country that's what we are going to be looking for. I think the guys have to try and be a lot more consistent at the higher level."

With more commitment, Smith sees no reason why Bermuda cannot enjoy success on the world stage.

He added: "I am a strong believer that we have the talent in this country to play at the higher level, but it's just a matter of the players being more committed. The more committed they are the more consistent they will be at the higher level.

"In order for us to compete and get back to that level (World Cup) we really need a commitment from our players that we are not getting right now. And it's only so much that the coach (David Moore) and captain (David Hemp) can do with the players they have."

Smith added: "To play for Bermuda is an honour and some players just don't understand that. We just have to understand the seriousness of what it means to represent Bermuda and once we do then I think the players will be a lot more committed and focused on representing Bermuda."

During the recent Americas campaign Hemp's captaincy came under the scrutiny of his critics, some going as far as to suggest perhaps the time is ripe to have someone else take over the helm instead.

Smith, however, begs to differ.

"As a country we have made the commitment to go with Hemp and so I think we should give him the backing and support him right through until the next World Cup qualifiers to give him a fair shot of building a team that he can call his own over the next two years," he said.

"If that doesn't work than Stephen Outerbridge would obviously come into the fold. But we have to give Hemp the opportunity to gel with his team."

UAE

Up next for Bermuda is a four-day home fixture with United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the ICC Intercontinental Shield next month. And Smith is keeping his fingers crossed that top all rounders OJ Pitcher and Delyone Borden put an end to their self-imposed exiles and re-commit themselves to the national cause.

"Players like OJ and Delyone are very crucial to have in your team," he noted. "Players like that bring character to the team. They are used to winning and so they bring that winning mentality and when you have players around like that it has a tendency to rub off on their team mates."

Smith also hopes top all rounder Malachi Jones will make a speedy return to the national programme. The Willow Cuts player was sensationally axed from the national team for breaking team protocol during the recent Americas campaign. 

"Obviously Malachi was a loss to Bermuda, especially during the Twenty/20 competition where some of the games were very close. But he made a mistake that I'm sure he will learn from and move on from there. Malachi is an awesome player who I rate highly."