batsman Clay Smith through suspensions until next June is a blow to Bermuda's Red Stripe Bowl squad.

But he feels that with the necessary adjustments, combined with hard work and commitment from the players, Bermuda's chances of doing well in their group in Jamaica next month remained promising.

Smith was last week banned from all cricket until the end of next June by the Bermuda Cricket Board of Control's disciplinary committee for bringing the game into disrepute -- thus ruling himself out of contention for a place in the squad for the second year in a row. He was left out of last year's team after being suspended for five games prior to the squad's departure for Jamaica.

When contacted at school in the United States this week Smith declined to offer a comment about the latest ban, but the coach didn't hide his pain.

"I was really disappointed when this happened last week. I was really looking forward to going down to Jamaica and getting a win. And I am still hopeful. We have the talent and the ability left in the squad, the guys are working on a couple of things that would make a difference,'' said Douglas.

"But in Clay Smith, obviously everyone would have loved to have had him. He would make a big difference since he is a quality batsman. But it so happens that he did what he felt was right and has to suffer the consequences and the game has to go on.'' Douglas felt that it was upsetting to lose one of the top three batsmen in any team, but noted that what makes Smith's absence even more painful is the fact that he is a utility bowler who often contributes five to six overs in the middle of an innings.

Smith, regarded as brash by some, is also extremely vocal when it comes to giving encouragement to his team-mates. missed as well.

"By not having him as a batsman and a good utility bowler means that there have to be some major adjustments,'' said Douglas. "It's a bit disheartening because you are working hard and guys like Smith know that they are in the big plan.

"There's a bit of hurt involved in realising that he is not there, but you ride that storm and keep going.'' Looking ahead to the huge challenges against countries such as host Jamaica, defending champions Guyana and the Windward Islands, Douglas realises that Bermuda have to work hard at their fitness.

His plans calls for the squad working under the supervision of Cal Dill at National Stadium in the near future.

Their success also hinges on whether they are able to follow some of the guidelines that South African Test player Daryll Cullinan stressed were needed during his coaching stint in Bermuda during the summer.

"We did a lot of work with Daryll, he noted a whole lot of things that we must do and he provided the necessary guidelines for us to follow and we are going to work with it,'' said Douglas. "It's mainly about being able to adjust our batting. We are able to keep teams down to 230-240 runs, we can do that with Windward Islands.

" But I think the main thing is scoring the necessary runs: it's a matter of knowing the options when we bat, where we going to score the runs and doing precisely that.'' Bermuda took a squad comprised mainly of seasoned veterans last year and there is a hint that some may get the chance to tour again.

While refusing to be specific the coach did admit that the make-up of this year's squad will probably be similar to the one that toured Toronto, Canada this summer -- not top heavy with veterans but containing a number of mature players combined with one or two younger ones.

"Those are the players that did us proud there, they are working hard, they are doing the right things. I would think most will be back with a few additions as there are some places wide open,'' said Douglas