Dear Sir,

When Clay Smith withdrew from the Bermuda team to travel to Argentina, quite unsurprising with North Village due to contest an FA Cup semi-final on March 10, I was tempted to write this letter but held off.

When El James, the former president of the Bermuda Cricket Board of Control, took the drastic measure of recalling Charlie Marshall to captain the national team, temptation came knocking again - but again I held off.

When Mr. James, in his farewell interview as president, claimed that his administration saved cricket from extinction, I drew blood in biting my bottom lip. Again, I held off.

But when Albert Steede and Jermaine Postlethwaite withdrew from the national team in the same week that the future of a dear friend of mine will be decided in a court of law, I harked back to one of the last conversations I had with Mark Harper, the national coach, before returning to the UK. Although this is not taken verbatim - he is very picky about that - Harper told me that, as a son of the soil, I should maintain a deep interest in Bermuda cricket, no matter where I rest my head at night.

Before his THIRD appointment as Bermuda captain, I joked with a friend that Charlie Marshall always lands on his feet. But I was indeed joking and was quite taken aback when the news came through.

It is an extremely sad indictment on our cricket and the leadership potential of players between the ages of 20 and 35 that the Board was "forced" to turn to a man of 40 (41 in May) who, prior to answering an SOS from El James, would much rather be in his fishing boat than baby-sitting a team half his age.

To be fair to Charlie, he would always put his hand up and take on the challenge. Further to that, he has done a good job in making himself look the part - I watched him run the International 10K in January and he was superb - and that alone will make him a more credible leader.

But the fallout from his appointment is that we are now minus two of the players, Steede and Postlethwaite, who devoted most to what rates as one of the most disappointing build-ups to an international commitment in modern times.

Followers of Bermuda cricket are aware of Marshall's history with Steede, who placed the ICC Trophy effort above his personal conflicts last summer, but was in no position to accept this latest sucker punch.

However, Postlethwaite's take, although he figured to be a squad player, is a bit more mysterious - unless you are a true follower of Bermuda cricket.

Stay with me.

The former Cleveland player was a member of the 1997 ICC team in Malaysia but a rift with Marshall that almost resulted in the present Bermuda captain having a physical altercation with Allan Douglas, the national coach, during the Plate final has yet to heal, with Postlethwaite choosing to avoid national service until Marshall's time had passed. Which it did when Marshall tendered his resignation after the Catastrophe in Canada.

So, he too was hit with a sucker punch and, instead of fighting through it, Postlethwaite and Steede have chosen not to come out of their corners for the next round. Charlie Marshall wins again, TKO.

This could have been easily avoided had the Board named Clay Smith as captain in October. The powers-that-be had their doubts, and not without good reason, but they are charged with the responsibility dealing with such problems and doing so in a timely manner.

Now we are left with a right mess, with Steede likely to have played his last match for Bermuda while Smith's future will be determined by how long the stop-gap measure with Marshall lasts. And Glenn Blakeney? Well, less said the better.

What a first week for poor Reggie Pearman, a fine and valued administrator, who will do a good job as BCBC president, I am sure. But first he has to oversee the Americas Cup where I am afraid to say that we go in as fourth favourites at best in a six-team tournament.

I have a lot of time for the younger players chosen and hope the experience serves them well. They have been groomed for this occasion, not only in the past four years as the previous administration would have the less informed believe, and can look forward to long international careers if they stay committed to the cause.

For, unlike the meteor that brought about the extinction of the dinosaur 65 million years ago, no such event has struck Bermuda cricket - a shocking statement by any leading authority, given that the game has been played on the Island at organised level for more than 100 years. To say so is a discredit to the hundreds that have come through the game during James's presidency, and have given their all without asking anything back.

While there has been progress with the youth, OJ Pitcher, Stephen Outerbridge, Chris Foggo, Jekon Edness, Jacobi Robinson, Dion Stovell and countless others did not pop up overnight. They have been nourished from an early age and what we see before us now is the product of such nourishment.

To say that the outgoing administration contributed nothing to their development is incorrect but to state categorically that El James and Co. are singularly responsible for the promise that lies ahead is equally misleading and would be a disservice to men the likes of Arnold Manders, Wendell Smith, George Cannonier and Grant Smith, who toiled for years under the Ed Bailey regime, the latter two in relative anonymity.

Bailey and I rarely saw eye to eye but, after being "The Man" for 14 years, he did not deserve to be set upon whenever the opportunity was presented, as was the case so many times during the James years, with the topic of youth in cricket his Waterloo.

Thanks for your time. And for those who question my patriotism, I'm not gone, it just seems that way.

Dexter E. Smith

London, England

P.S. to North Village Community Club: Manchester United are in the informal stages of launching a team in NFL Europe. They will be called Manchester Red Devils.