Cricket clubs are in debt to the tune of $20,000 to both Bermuda Cricket Board of Control and Bermuda Cricket Umpires Association, it has been revealed.

The money owed to the BCBC is from registration fees - each club being required to post an annual fee of $1,000 - while the BCUA is owed for services provided by their members at matches.

It is understood the BCBC is owed around $14,000 and the umpires approximately $6,000, and in both instances some of the main offenders are clubs at the western end of the Island.

The subject was debated at the Board's AGM earlier in the year, with one club official suggesting that it was unfair to have some clubs pay in full and on time while the clubs who failed to pay at all still received the same benefits.

The same official said that those who had not paid their registration fees should be penalised and not allowed to participate.

Neither the Board's president Reggie Pearman nor the Umpires Association's secretary Randy Butler were willing to state the exact amount owed their respective bodies, but both expressed their growing concern over the debt.

"We are working with the clubs. We remain very much concerned but all I can say at the moment is that it's an ongoing thing and that we have some things in the pipeline that we are going to discuss with the full cricket board," said Pearman.

Butler said that his association experienced yearly difficulties in recouping money for the services of umpiring, the neglect by clubs often proving to be quite a burden for their small organisation.

What particularly concerns the umpires is the negative signal sent to aspiring officials who could be deterred from turning out on discovering that they may not be paid after having spent close to eight hours on duty in often hot and humid conditions.

"Cash owed to us has been outstanding for a while now and it's particularly a hardship when we attempt to bring our books up to date," said Butler. "The way some of us look at it is that if you want electricity and you don't pay then you don't get the service, so consequently clubs can't fault our members when they try to avoid officiating at the game of delinquent clubs."

Butler said his organisation did not have much money to start with.

"The little that we get from officiating goes towards the members and to other overheads such as the purchase of tapes and other necessities for training, holding our many seminars and also for sending delegates abroad to conferences held by the West Indies Cricket Umpires Association," he said. "So we definitely need every cent that we can manage to scrape up.''

What makes the umpires' plight even more difficult is that they have no other avenue to raise money, Butler claiming that they have not been able to attract sponsors.

The current pay for an umpire is $60 a day when two officials are assigned to a game, and $80 when one official is faced with operating from both ends.

Umpiring continues to be a job that former cricketers, in particular, seem to avoid with several matches already this season having been affected by the shortage.