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People are really beating up on the players right now after our Stanford 20-20 loss to Guyana.

Obviously we guys are disappointed. To go up against Guyana was always going to be a struggle.

Once we saw what wicket we were playing on we didn't stand a chance against their attack.

To come up against experienced professionals, the champions of the tournament, with the ball turning square, it was going to be a struggle to get to 100.

Even their batsmen had the same problems against spin. They couldn't get Sluggo away.

We had a very inexperienced team. We did as much as we could. But you can't expect amateurs, in the space of six weeks to come up against these guys and compete.

We hung in there against the medium pacers but once the spin came on... they were turning it really big. For a lot of the guys it was the first time they had witnessed anything like that.

The preparation was not perfect, but you can't become international cricketers in six weeks. We were up against the best in the tournament but we would have struggled against Turks and Caicos with the preparation we had.

This is a problem that's been going on for a couple of years. We qualified for the World Cup and we are expected to play international cricket all year round.

We don't have good weather in our off-season, we don't have facilities to train on, we don't have a home ground.

You would have thought we were playing in Guyana on Sunday, the support they had. We've never had that.

We've had no easy games in the last few years. Every team we play is a level above us.

International cricket is always going to be a struggle for Bermuda because the standard of domestic cricket is so low.

You have clubs that don't even train, or have qualified coaches. It's a recreational sport in Bermuda.

The Under-19s have gone off for the World Cup and they are going to come back with stories like 'you wouldn't believe this guy - this 16-year-old'. It's going to be a wake-up call for them. We are ten years behind the rest of the world.

We have to find ways to improve the game at club level.

We are at an all-time low and we have to make drastic changes. We have to sort out the grass roots level of the game, because it is in danger of dying out in Bermuda.

Semi-pro league

I believe the minimum we have to do is to have a semi-pro league.

What I would like to see is each club have two professionals from overseas to come in and play for them and run their cricket programmes from Under-9s up. They would have to be qualified coaches employed by the clubs.

It would cost money, but it's something that has to be done. If everybody wants to say this and that every time Bermuda loses to full-time professional sides like Guyana, then they have to be prepared to put something in place that would help us to win.

There would be a number of ways to finance it. Exempt companies, sponsorship - that's how it works around the world.

What have we done to improve the game in the past few years since qualifying for the World Cup? Have we even made it mandatory for coaches to be qualified? We couldn't because if we did nobody would turn up to coach.

People like to pretend they are cricket fans and say they are humiliated when we lose. But if they are serious why don't they help find a solution?

Do we have the right infrastructure. Do we have any kind of facilities or system in place that would help us beat teams like Guyana? We don't.

This team tried its best. The players put in the work, they made the sacrifices and they stepped up to play for their country when others didn't. The skill level is just not there at this point in time.

I've been playing at this level for three years and I have had my successes but it doesn't happen over night. It's a constant struggle.

I'm used to the bad press by now, but these boys don't deserve the stick they will get. Half of them were making their international debuts and people expect them to compete with Guyana?

Cricket has not gone forward since we qualified for the World Cup. We had a good draw and played a few good matches but has the sport progressed since them? The results don't show it.

Are we building on it now? The facilities are still not in place, the pitch is still not in place. We need youngsters off in England playing in the leagues out there, going to cricket academies, whatever it costs, whatever it takes.

I can tell you $11 million over four years is nowhere near enough for the changes that need to be made.

I talk to people we are up against. I socialize with the other teams and they feel for us. They play every day. It's their livelihood.

If we really want to compete with these teams then we would have to do the same. We'd have to have guys playing cricket nine months a year.

People don't want to hear it but that is what we have to do. Or we have to accept the same kind of results and not say we are embarrassed or humiliated every time Bermuda loses.[[In-content Ad]]

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