The bad taste of the Bermuda cricket team’s demise in Malaysia lingers to such an extent that many are expecting a change in president come November 26. I don’t see it happening.

What transpired in Malaysia has not gone down well and many want to know the reasons behind such a travesty.

What better way to find out than talk to a player who actually toured and experienced it all.

Surprisingly, this past week, a few players came forward with some alarming facts pertaining to what arose on tour and said, “Enough is enough.”

Players are tired of mediocre standards on tour, tired of poor preparations, tired of player-management conflicts; the list goes on and on. It is known that the Bermuda Cricket Board has held its own inquiry into this fiasco, but will it come forward to the public with its findings or will it keep things in-house?

The following are some unbelievable facts that occurred while in Malaysia that should never have happened.

I decided to focus on the six most astonishing issues that contributed to our relegation from World Cricket Division Three.

• The team travelled to Dubai for a training camp, but while there never did one fielding session.

• While in Malaysia for a series of five games that were to determine Bermuda’s future in cricket, the team had only one or two meetings the entire time. It is common practice to have a team meeting after every game.

• Malachi Jones, Bermuda’s premier fast bowler, actually bowled spin in some games, rather than the potent pace that he is known for. How could this be allowed? Why was it not addressed?

• Lionel Cann and Janeiro Tucker were both dropped, and not rested, for the Uganda game where victory was required to avoid relegation. Hence, Lionel announced his retirement from international cricket.

• Player-management conflicts continue to be a problem.

A player, or players, refused to play in the fifth-sixth play-off game against the United States.

Just from the few points that I have highlighted, I am sure you can see there were some serious issues in Malaysia. We were doomed to fail.

The writing was on the wall from when there were four to five people showing up to training only days and weeks before a major tournament.

There was simply not enough practice games, not enough time in Malaysia to acclimatise. The players had to adjust to the time difference and there is no way that will happen in a day. Need I say any more?

I am taking this very personally because I can recall back in 2004 when I was captain and begging players such as Albert Steede, Dean Minors and Richard Basden to come out of retirement to give Bermuda one last chance to reach the World Cup — and they did.

It hurts to see that all the hard work and sacrifice that we as players put in back then to put Bermuda on the map has been tarnished and our reputation as a cricketing nation left in tatters. It leaves a very bad taste in my mouth.

As I said last week, it is obvious that we have our priorities wrong.

Seriously, there are times and places when we need to be tight with money, but before a major tournament of that magnitude that was not the time.

Our players should have been in Malaysia at least eight to ten days before the tournament. If not Malaysia, then somewhere nearby, where they can get acclimatised.

A top-two finish and we could have been in Division Two, back in the thick of things and with much more money for the Board to manoeuvre with.

I strongly believe that if the Board had invested in the players’ preparation, Bermuda could have been rewarded with promotion into Division Two and an abundance of $$$$ to go along with it.

As they say, “You only get out what you put in.”

Clubs need to think long and hard about the way forward and who should lead us. This week, I did an interview with Stephen Outerbridge, which I found quite compelling.

He was asked if he could see himself joining the Board at management level and he replied “No”.

However, after a period of thought, he said: “If there is one job I would consider, it would be the CEO.”

Is it time to shuffle the deck completely?

Bermuda, clearly what transpired in Malaysia should never have happened and, to be quite frank, the players have to take some of the blame because they should have taken their own initiative and met even if it meant without management. Too much was at stake and now we have a mountain to climb to get back where we belong.

Someone asked me a few weeks ago who should resign? But I say, “Who shouldn’t resign?”

Bermuda cricket needs a facelift from top to bottom — I know it, you know it, everybody in Bermuda knows it. Let’s see if the clubs know it.

The reality is this: in the past three years, we have dropped two divisions; facts speak for themselves.

Quote of the week: “If you are afraid of failure, you don’t deserve to be successful!” — Charles Barkley