former prominent player charged yesterday.

St. Clair (Brinky) Tucker, currently a member of the Cricket Testimonial Committee, told The Royal Gazette he was in agreement with comments made by Clarence Parfitt, the one-time Cup Match star who now lives and coaches in Scotland -- the country that bundled Bermuda out of the ICC Trophy competition in Malaysia earlier this week.

"I concur entirely with what Parfitt said (in yesterday's Gazette ) and what was said in the sports editorial on Monday,'' said Tucker. "Cricket in Bermuda has gone backwards. If you look at the standard of today compared to 15 to 20 years ago and more, there's just no comparison.

"The dedication is not there, the discipline is not there, the commitment is not there and, more importantly, there is no proper organised junior programme like the former Shell Youth Tournament. There are no well trained youngsters coming along to replace the seasoned players.'' Tucker, a former pace bowler with Southampton Rangers, said he was deeply concerned by Bermuda's poor showing in Malaysia and believed the criticism directed at Bermuda Cricket Board of Control in recent days had been warranted.

"There are those (on the BCBC) who are overly sensitive and just don't like to hear news like this. But it's clear to me that due to a lack of foresight, or refusal to listen to people who know as much or more than themselves about the sport, our cricket has deteriorated to the sad point where it is now,'' continued Tucker.

He claimed there were many other veterans who shared similar sentiments.

"I have spoken with top international West Indies Test players and current West Indies cricket officials, and they have stated that as long as we maintain this lack of a proper development system, we will never progress.

"I would describe the situation as being like a ship without a rudder, without a captain and without a compass. It's aimlessly floating around in the ocean with no direction.

"I am a former player. I have had the opportunity of playing Cup Match and I have played overseas. I have played a lot of cricket, 30 years of it, and I think I have a fairly good idea of what I am talking about.'' Tucker said he was particularly puzzled by the BCBC's insistence on arranging visits by Test playing countries but at the same time ignoring a youth programme.

He believed Government should get involved and give the BCBC some form of direction, especially since public funds were constantly being made available to the governing body.

"I think it has come to the point where the Sports Minister should intervene and have a full inquiry into how the BCBC is run and how the cricket system is set up. If not, it's going to get worse and worse.

"In essence I would describe our cricket programme as an educational programme without a high school. We have some youngsters who are being trained by Arnold Manders and Wendell Smith up to the ages of 11 and 12, and that's a fine programme.

"But after that there isn't anything organised apart from the programme that the Eastern Counties have, and that's just for a few games during the summer.

What is sad is that the teenagers who are not involved in any cricket programme are going to end up sitting on walls, taking drugs and breaking into homes.'' Like Parfitt, Tucker wasn't surprised by Bermuda's loss to Scotland.

"When we honoured Parfitt two years ago, he stated then that the standard of cricket in Scotland was higher than it was here because of the infrastructure and the programmes that they had in place from the youth level to senior level.

"And two of our players who he has had with him in Scotland, Del Hollis and Lionel Cann, have also told me that the standard of cricket there is higher than here.''