BERMUDA skipper Clay Smith will need to be on his best behaviour for today’s final three sessions in the Intercontinental Cup game against Holland.A clearly upset Smith stood his ground and shook his head after being adjudged lbw by Ryan ten Doeschate yesterday morning, and that reaction, deemed a level one offence under ICC rules, cost him an official reprimand when he was summoned before the umpires and match referee at the close of play.

Essentially Smith was warned about his future behaviour, and could be handed a one-match ban if he steps out of line again.* * * *

FORMER South African Test player Daryll Cullinan, currently working as a TV commentator on the South Africa/India one-day series, still harbours fond memories of his short coaching stint with the Bermuda national team a couple of summers ago.And he’s been keeping close tabs on their progress since qualifying for the World Cup.

But he couldn’t resist taking a tongue-in-cheek jab at his former charges in an e-mail sent to a pal at the High Performance Camp in Pretoria where the Bermuda players are staying this week.

“Please give my regards,” wrote Cullinan, “to the fattest, unfittest and most opinionated cricket team the world has ever known.”

Had he been present at the ground yesterday as Bermuda piled up a record score against Holland, he would no doubt have been made to eat those words.* * * *

ISLAND cricket officials can’t have been too happy to have discovered that they were the last to learn of a schedule change on the current leg of their South African tour.Until being informed by this newspaper on Wednesday, manager Lionel Tannock and coach Gus Logie were under the impression that the first of their one-day matches in South Africa, against Canada, was scheduled for the town of Potchefstroom this Sunday.

As it turns out the venue was right but the date wrong.

While an ICC missive informed both the Dutch and the Canadian teams, and their media, that the Bermuda v Canada game had been switched to Monday, the governing body apparently failed to alert anyone in the Bermuda camp.

Tannock only had the change — which means Bermuda must now play back to back one-day matches against Canada on Monday and Holland on Tuesday — confirmed late on Wednesday.* * * *

IF Tannock didn’t have enough on his plate, there was yet another problem to deal with yesterday — the overnight theft of cricket gear belonging to Kevin Hurdle.The pace bowler had left his bag, containing bats, pads and other equipment, in the pavilion at the L.C.DeVilliers Oval, venue for this week’s four-day Intercontinental Cup match, assuming the premises would be securely locked.

But on arriving for the start of yesterday’s morning session, Hurdle discovered the bag and all of its contents had disappeared.

And efforts to find it throughout yesterday proved fruitless.

Tannock said he was now looking into whether the theft was covered by insurance.