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What took place last week Friday night was not a pretty sight. Jamaica in short embarrassed and humiliated Bermuda by quite frankly annihilating this country's national cricket team in record time.

Any self-respecting Bermuda cricket supporter could only hold their head in shame after watching what turned out to be a complete massacre!

A former co-worker who follows the game religiously told me that after watching the match on television she simply could not fall asleep. Another friend, who visits Jamaica told me he will have to 'sneak into the country' to avoid all his Jamaican friends who usually lay out the red carpet for him.

Our senior cricket team not only failed to bat out their allotted twenty overs against the 'Reggae boys' but gave up over 70 runs in only 5.5 overs, a run rate, which if sustained, would have seen the Jamaicans amass close to 350 runs in a mere 20 overs!

Already the players have come in for severe criticism; in fact there was talk of a lack of commitment to training before they travelled to Antigua.

But it must be remembered that Bermuda's cricketers are essentially amateurs who because of the need to earn a living can only train for a couple of hours most weeknights.

To expect them to compete against Test players is ludicrous and any belief to the contrary should have been dispelled once and for all on Friday night.

Now who should accept responsibility for the team's dismal performance on Friday?

In my opinion one need look no further than the top brass at 9 Gorham Road Hamilton.

It was obvious to all who watched the game that Bermuda was not properly prepared to compete against Jamaica.

The Bermuda Cricket Board executive were warned some time ago that the team must be allowed to focus full time on their cricket if they are to be competitive at this level.

Yet they have failed to act!

It is their lack of commitment in this regard which has hurt the team's World Cup preparations and led directly to Friday night's debacle.

Chairman of selectors and former Bermuda captain Arnold Manders warned the country last year that if the team is to be competitive at the World Cup they must go full time.

His sentiments were echoed by former national player Jeffrey Richardson who said in an interview in the Royal Gazette in February that: "These guys should be showing up at work in the morning at the National Sports Centre and then knocking off at 4pm or 5pm and I think the players' employers should be a bit more forthcoming, especially if they have employees involved in the national programme, because there is a risk these guys could be burnt out before the World Cup.

"Some of these players work at jobs that are physically demanding, work eight hours a day and then have to show up for training for another two or three hours. And before you know it people are asking why can't this guy make any runs or has lost form?

All these things do take a toll on the individual and our players are not going to make it happen working full-time jobs. We need to make them think and live like professionals so when they arrive in Trinidad for the World Cup they will be fully prepared."

So where do we go from here? I would suggest the following:

n Scrap the cricketers' current contracts and implement 16 new full-time contracts to run from the beginning of September to the end of our World Cup run next year to those who prove themselves worthy to represent the island.

n Take the team overseas to prepare, preferably to South Africa, Barbados and finally Trinidad - they can spend six weeks training and playing then return for two weeks at a time for rest and relaxation.

n Employ a full training staff. In addition to a physio there should be a specialist batting coach (preferably Daryl Cullinan), a bowling coach and a fitness trainer.

n Finally, we need to see some commitment from David Hemp.

He needs to get involved with the national team as soon as possible in order to properly 'gel' into the squad.

Bermuda is offering him a golden opportunity to perform on the greatest stage in world cricket and while I understand his obligations to Glamorgan he must be prepared to demonstrate some loyalty to this country as well.

Earlier this year he said he could not get involved with Bermuda's national squad until mid-October because after Glamorgan finish their county season they go on a tour of Guernsey.

This is unacceptable and he should be told so.

I for one do not believe that a tour of Guernsey with Glamorgan should take precedence over Bermuda's preparation for the World Cup![[In-content Ad]]

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