Cricket needs to follow the lead taken by soccer, according to former Somerset Cup Match cricketer and Bermuda international soccer player Randy Horton.

Horton was commenting yesterday on the declining standard of cricket in the Island, culminating in Bermuda's early elimination from the ICC Tournament in Malaysia last weekend.

He said he believed cricket authorities could take a tip from Bermuda Football Association, whose national programme has recently been revitalised and strengthened by the return of former professional star Clyde Best as national coach.

The BFA's six-year development plan, said Horton, was something that Bermuda Cricket Board of Control might want to examine.

"I certainly agree with the sentiments expressed by St. Clair (Brinky) Tucker and Clarence Parfitt about what has happened to our cricket, irrespective of the results in Malaysia,'' said Horton.

"The difference in soccer is that you have great youth programmes, and now we have a revamped national programme with Best at the helm. It makes one think that with Parfitt playing a similar role in cricket, it would have been a great inspiration for all of our young people, because nobody has reached the same level as him.'' Horton agreed the main problem with cricket was the lack of an organised youth development programme.

"I am concerned because it's our national sport and a sport that we all love.

I am concerned that attention to development just doesn't seem to be there. If we are going to be looking at the millennium, as it has been said, then we can't look that way unless we have a proper youth development programme. Those people in charge are kidding themselves if they think we are going to have a great programme ten years down the road without such a programme,'' added Horton.

He declined to compare today's top players with those of the 1960s and '70s, but believed there was not the same level of development as when he was competing.

"What I would say about the current situation is that there are not enough good players on the Island who young people can emulate. Also, players are encouraged to leave the game here too early. They are told they are too old.

If you look around the world you see players still performing well at 40 which is not an old age.'' But Horton also pointed at the clubs for contributing to the decline in standard, claiming that the lack of interest in building programmes within their own establishments was cause for concern.

"All blame cannot be put on the BCBC, the clubs have to shoulder a large portion of it as well,'' he said.

While noting that the development of youth was vital, Horton still felt that the make-up of the ICC squad could have been better.

"I am all for youth, but our national teams still must be chosen on merit. We had players left at home who are much better than some of those who were taken -- players such as Ricky Hill, Noel Gibbons and Jeff Richardson. There wasn't a sufficient balance between youth and experience in the side.'' Meanwhile, St. Clair Tucker said that many ex-players had contacted him over his comments in The Royal Gazette this week, all agreeing and similarly concerned about the diminishing standard.

But of the current players contacted this week by The Gazette , few were willing to go public with their commentsfor fear of reprisals by the BCBC when it came to future team selection.

Dexter Basden and Olin Jones, however, were two who commented on the ICC team's failure.

Said Basden: "It's too bad Bermuda didn't reach the quarter-finals. They actually didn't play that badly, but I didn't expect them to do too much better with that team. Janeiro Tucker, Charlie Marshall and Bruce Perinchief did their part, though.'' Olin Jones commented: "Bermuda had a decent side but they just didn't perform that well. The batsmen didn't make the runs expected of them, that seemed to be the main problem.''