January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
The search begins to replace Logie
Pearman says new coach will face uphill battle if players aren’t committed
BCB president Reggie Pearman dismissed suggestions that UAE coach Colin Wells had approached the board about the post and insisted there had been no applications for the job - which only became vacant on Wednesday and has yet to be advertised.
He said the board would consider local and international candidates but cautioned that whoever replaced Logie would need to be a highly qualified coach with international experience.
But he insisted the new man would be facing an uphill battle unless the players showed more hunger than was evident in the last days of Logie's reign.
Former Bermuda skipper Clay Smith said yesterday he would be interested in leading the team if the board opted to cut costs, following the $1million budget cut, by going for a local applicant.
Herbie Bascome, Logie's assistant for the bulk of his tenure, would be another in the frame if the BCB did decide to go down that route.
The early indications, however, are that they will look to replace former West Indies star Logie with an overseas candidate of similar stature.
In reality the search for a new head coach is unlikely to begin until the International Cricket Council reveals its decision on whether to include Bermuda in its global four-day competition - the Intercontinental Cup.
If Bermuda are left out of that competition the national team will play only self arranged friendlies between now and the Americas Championship in late 2010.
BCB Chief Executive Neil Speight insisted it was too early to speculate about who might take over from Logie, claiming the immediate focus was on the island's future in the I-Cup.
"We are awaiting that decision from the ICC's Development Committee which will have a significant impact on cricket activity in the country.
"Once we have that information we will have a much better idea of the roadmap for the game over the next few years."
Having lost one-day-international status following their 9th place finish in the World Cup Qualifier in South Africa last month, the I-Cup is Bermuda's only potential lifeline to regular competitive international cricket.
The initial plan was for the top six from South Africa to be featured in the competition along with two other countries to be decided at the discretion of the ICC.
Namibia and UAE, who finished 7 and 8 in Johannesburg and have better records than Bermuda in the I-Cup, would have been the favourites for those spots.
But a proposal to include former Test side Zimbabwe in the competition has thrown a spanner in the works.
The ICC's Development Committee will meet on May 17 and 18 to decide the future of the competition, with Bermuda hoping they will expand the number of teams involved.
It is likely that the head coach's post - a mandatory position for teams, like Bermuda, who are part of the ICC's High Performance Programme - would be advertised locally and internationally shortly after that decision is announced.
Mr Pearman added: "Gus is here until the end of September but we don't want to leave it too long. If we bring someone in from overseas then obviously they would need some time to get their affairs in order...
"We will advertise the post and see what responses we get."
He added that Logie would be a hard man to replace.
"He gave it us all. When we made that change in 2005 we made the right choice, I think that has been proven. Things didn't work out this year but these things happen and he has been an asset to Bermuda cricket over the years.
"We weren't hungry enough this time (in South Africa). It is evident what happened there."
He added that he hoped the expanding youth programme would produce a conveyer belt of younger, hungrier players for the new coach to work with.[[In-content Ad]]
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