Undaunted by national squad players' no-show for early training, the Bermuda Cricket Board of Control (BCBC) are continuing with plans for a Caribbean team to tour the Island, writes Colin Zuill.

Jamaica and Guyana are high on the list of possibilities with Barbados being an outside option.

"We cannot let the problems we are having with the players stop other plans that we have on the cards for the forthcoming season. We are negotiating with Jamaica and Guyana about sending a team here and we have also had a response from feelers we sent out to Barbados," said BCBC president Reggie Pearman.

"It's difficult to finalise things right now because those countries are in the midst of the Carib Beer series, but we would like to have one here for the end of April or in early May to play against our senior national team."

That's not the only tour the Board are pursuing. Negotiations are ongoing with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) about having Bermuda's Under-19 team tour the Caribbean in early summer.

The Board is anxious to ensure that Bermuda's two national teams are properly prepared for upcoming international commitments. The senior national team competes in the International Cricket Council (ICC) preliminary round in Los Angeles in September while the Under-19s participate in the Youth World Cup in Singapore in July.

Given the apathetic response towards training by both national squads, Pearman said the Board must find a solution so that at least the senior squad has time to prepare for an early-season tour.

The Board have not yet determined whether or not the soccer season is affecting cricketers' turnout at training, since many of them also play football. However, the Board intends to try and find out players' intentions and commitment to cricket this year.

"We are limited to what we can do but we have a cut-off period in mind and it's shortly. We will have to evaluate the latest attendance report and take it from there," said Pearman.

"Perhaps once the cricket season gets underway training will pick up, but the truth is that it's causing a great headache. We hope this will be resolved sooner rather than later."