Bermuda Cricket Board of Control administration to attend a meeting of the International Cricket Conference in England.

The vice-president's brief will be to try to strengthen the Island's links with the West Indies Cricket Board, under whose umbrella Bermuda now comes, and consolidate ties with the ICC established by former president Ed Bailey.

New president El James, who is unable to attend the June 14 meeting due to his daughter's graduation in the US, said it was vital for Bermuda cricket to continue making strides at the international level. Working closely with the two organisations would help this.

"It's crucial for so many reasons,'' he said. "The international ties are something that we definitely want to maintain and even strengthen and broaden.

"We are also looking at development, development of our coaches, players, groundsmen, scorekeepers, total development of the sport ... it's a must that we look to these international establishments in order to make progress in these areas.'' Nobody would argue that Bailey excelled when it came to establishing Bermuda within the ICC. And there are those who feel that without him Bermuda will be severely hampered during international discussions. But James appears to think otherwise.

"I am satisfied that Mr Brown will carry our best interests to the meeting on this occasion and in future the Board will endeavour to ensure that Bermuda's interest will be at a premium,'' he added. "He is a very capable individual and he will be voting on the various matters as directed by our committee.'' James also feels the Island will benefit greatly from closer ties with the West Indies. Other countries which fall under the WICB umbrella include Canada, USA, Chile, Argentina, Belize, and the Bahamas, and James thinks there is much progressive thinking and planning that can be done in the region.

Thanks to Bailey's efforts, Bermuda are already in the Red Stripe competition and the possibilities of entering several other related competitions are good, James insisted.

"We have to look into getting our players at various age groups into other tournaments in the area. If none are available then we have to take the initiative and create some once our junior programmes really begin to flourish and produce quality players.''