Let?s talk about a different sport this week, let?s talk about cricket.

Watching Trinidad and Tobago qualify for the World Cup the other day ? and congratulations to them by the way ? reminded me of our own achievements in cricket this summer.

The more I think about it, the more I realise what an incredible thing it is they have done and what the repercussions are going to be for the future.

I must admit I never thought they could do it. To be perfectly honest, being away in England and being engrossed in my football career, I didn?t really know what the process was for getting there.

So when the qualifying tournament came around it just didn?t occur to me that we would do it, in the same way that it seems almost impossible for us to do it in football.

I?m sure 80 percent of the Island felt the same but that doesn?t stop what they did being a tremendous achievement.

Getting to the World Cup really puts Bermuda on the sporting map again.

All the publicity and tourism spin-offs we are going to get from being there are just incredible.

But I think there is also a sense of responsibility that comes with it.

There is a lot of money being put into the game now and this is a great chance to really set up cricket for the future.

We can get the kids into it and make sure that the benefits of qualifying run way beyond the tournament itself.

And there is an extra sense of responsibility now for the players. They are going to have to be role models now more than ever.

People inside and outside the country are going to be watching them and what they do so we have to sort out some of the things wrong with the domestic game and put them right while we have the chance.

One thing I hope can happen from all of this is that some of our players get the chance in the future to go abroad and play as full-time professionals.

Doors are going to open up and it would be great if some of the younger players coming through could come across and play county cricket or go somewhere else and lead a professional sporting lifestyle that is such a rich one.

I must admit on a personal level I haven?t been involved in cricket as I used to be. Even with all the excitement about the Ashes this summer in England, I haven?t really watched that much or been involved in it all.

But I tell you something, unless I am still playing or literally in the middle of moving house, I am going to be going to that World Cup in the West Indies. And I am sure most of Bermuda are going to be coming with me.

It is a great opportunity for us to go just a short distance and go and support our lads in the way that only we can.

I wouldn?t miss that event.

On a personal note I want to say how happy I am for Clay (Smith) and Dean (Minors).

We all played cricket together at Whitney when we were kids and I?m sure they will both tell you that I was better than both of them in those early years.

No, but seriously, those guys deserve this as much as anyone else. We all played together and I could keep up with them for the first few years but by the last couple of years of school, those guys were in a different league. It would take me a whole lunchtime to bowl Dean out!

Like most kids, I batted and bowled and I wasn?t too bad but I had to make a decision and in the end I went for the football.

Those guys hung on a bit with the football, though, and I remember the three of us going down to Belize with the Under-19s.

But I never made it into a representative side with the cricket, I just wasn?t quite good enough.

I had to stick to football although my mate Kyle Lightbourne could have been a pro at either.