Up and down the country men and women such as Clarence Parfitt are the great unseen spine of Scottish sport.

You spot them on pitches and fields, courts and halls. But you don't know who they are or what they do. They're the people who make it all happen, who put kids on the path to a Scotland cap or the Olympics but stay out of the limelight when their proteges hit the bright lights.

Out of sight and sadly too often out of mind. Which makes Parfitt a welcome exception. Not only was he recently recognised for his incredible exploits in nurturing cricket throughout the north of the country but the praise came from 3000 miles away.

Only ten names were inducted into Bermuda's new Sports Hall of Fame this summer and although it is more than 20 years since he left his native island, Cricket Scotland's development manager was summoned back to take his place among the great and the good.

Parfitt still has the same commitment to grooming youngsters as when he first arrived as a professional at Arbroath in 1977.

His first impressions weren't rosy though. Back home winning mattered. Here, as long as everyone had a good time and tea was served with the right combination of milk and sugar, no-one complained too much.

Was it a culture shock? Too right. Parfitt said: “In Bermuda we played to win first and socialised second. You were playing against your best mates and when you walked on the pitch it wasn't dirty but it was war.

“On the field you weren't friends. Afterwards you had a drink and a laugh and joke.

“Here it was the other way round. They wanted to socialise too much - that was a waste of time.”

The 59-year-old former vice-captain of Bermuda's cricket team returned to his native land this summer to be recognised for his ‘services to sport at home and abroad'.

West Ham legend Clyde Best was by his side at the induction ceremony. So too former high jumper Nicky Saunders. “It was a big surprise,” Parfitt admits in an accent still strongly rooted in the western Atlantic island.

“I knew about the idea because I read the Bermuda paper on the internet and thought it was good. I even went through in my mind who I thought should go in it but I never picked myself.

“Because it involved all sports I didn't think I would be considered. I've been away so long - it was a shock but an honour to be picked. Especially since it was voted by the people.”

Clearly the Bermudans (sic) haven't forgotten Parfitt's contribution. He only returns every few years, mainly to see his two sons.

But each visit rekindles memories of his first steps in the game. As a child he tried everything - soccer, athletics, American football.

He said: “Cricket was the one thing I stuck to. It came naturally. Cricket was the national sport. We played in summer from sun up to sun down in alleyways, on the beach, anywhere.

“There is always big pride playing for your country. It was instilled in us because we were such a small place.

“And we didn't fear anybody. We had touring teams from all over the world stopping in but we weren't afraid.

“We never thought we weren't good enough and even when we lost we took it graciously knowing we'd given 100 percent.

“I've been lucky. I played against some of the best players in the world in the ‘60s and ‘70s including the great West Indies teams, New Zealand, English counties, India and Pakistan.

“I loved that ‘70s West Indies team best of all. You had Clive Lloyd, Basil Butcher. I also played against Gary Sobers, Michael Holding. You name them, in that era I faced them all.”

Parfitt has plenty of fond memories of big name scalps. On one occasion a combined Middlesex-Surrey side touched down with Sobers and Fred Trueman as guests.

Parfitt said: “Every one was a Test player and it was supposed to be a three-day game but we finished in two. They bowled us out for 67, we bowled them out for 49. In the second innings we got 130 and they got 120. It was a good, true wicket.

“I was lucky because I got Sobers first ball. In those days they cabled the scores back to the newspapers. But the papers sent one back saying, ‘Stop kidding, send us the real scores'!” Parfitt's legacy of two decades' work in Scotland will be his dedication to the grassroots game. Initially shocked at the lack of proper coaching and opportunities, he set about making cricket accessible to young people.

He said: “In Arbroath I found there was not a lot of coaching so I spent a lot of time on that.

“There weren't many juniors playing either. It was guys in their 40s with kids just there to run after the ball. We had to change that to develop youngsters because without them there would be no future.

“There's been a big improvement in the past 20 years. All clubs have woken up and realised their future is junior cricket. And it's also helping kids in the community because it's teaching them good things.

“I see a lot of sport in Scotland but not much of it teaches kids discipline. Cricket does. It teaches respect.

“Governments all say they want sport. But when we ask for money to run sports and get kids off the streets it seems to be a no-no.

“If we want kids to go the right way we have to introduce them to sport and the Government has to fund it.

“Cricket is an amateur sport so we need money to help kids go in the right direction. Some sports are rough. They don't teach discipline. Look at football - the players fight. The kids see that. They see the swearing at referees. Kids repeat that. We don't allow that in our sport.

“We teach them to respect the umpire. There's no swearing, no bad language.”

Darting around the outer reaches of Scotland, Parfitt conveys his message to thousands of impressionable minds every year. One man can't change the world. But he can make a difference in plucking a prospect out of nowhere.

A few have made it to the top including George Salmond, captain when the Saltires last reached the World Cup.

And that more than anything gives Parfitt the greatest satisfaction.

He said: “We've just had someone from the Highlands become the first player to represent a junior team in Scotland. Plus we've had a couple from the Moray area.

“Clubs have started junior programmes and kids are breaking through. It takes up to 10 years to blossom but it's an honour to watch them emerge. It's not me, it's the kids and coaches who make it happen.

“I'm just a small part of the big jigsaw. I like to sit back and say well done. That's the thrill - to see them make it.

“The easy part is getting there though. The hard part is staying at the top. Hopefully that's where the discipline comes into play, in cricket and in life.”