Bermuda Cricket Board (BCB) confirmed that they were not extended an invitation to be involved in the 2012 Caribbean Twenty20 to be held in Trinidad and Barbados in January.Despite having close ties with the region, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) didn’t invite Bermuda and went in favour of including their associate rivals Canada and the Netherlands instead. Sussex County Club from England were the third team included in the Twenty20.BCB first vice president Allen Richardson stated: “We were never offered a position in the competition and from what I gather neither were the US.“An invitation was never giving to us to compete in next year’s event.”The decision hasn’t gone down well with some of the cricket fraternity, particularly the current squad who are preparing for the ICC Global Qualifiers in Dubai in March.Rodney Trott, in particular, was disheartened to hear the news of Bermuda not being included in the event that would have been the prefect preparation for their assault on qualification.“It is disappointing, especially because we aren’t a Test playing nation and have limited international fixtures on the horizon, it would have been nice to go down there and get in some games before heading to the qualifiers,” said Trott.“The associate countries strive to make it to the big stage and this would have gone a long way in getting us ready for another chance to make it to a big event.“The ICC aren’t allowing us to play in the World Cup with the new format for the 50-over format and qualifying procedures, so this is another thing that has gone against us in the recent times.“We may not be at a disadvantage because the game is played on the pitch, it certainly doesn’t help us out any in knowing that we will have minimal games played and so forth in our preparations.“We could have prepared for the qualifiers against the likes of Jamaica and Guyana, this is one of our main sports and to be left out is upsetting, it could have been something that we as a country could have looked forward to and got together to support like the football World Cup campaign.“In the end we have to look at this and say ‘Why aren’t we in it and playing against the Caribbean countries when we are supposedly apart of the Caribbean?”The overseas trio will join seven regional sides in the ten team tournament to be played in the Caribbean from January 9 to the 22.Included in the seven Caribbean teams to compete in the competition are Barbados, Combined Campuses and Colleges, Guyana, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Trinidad and Tobago and Windward Islands.While the exclusion was not welcome news to Bermuda, the WICB Director of Cricket Tony Howard is happy with the teams that are coming from overseas.“We’re delighted that the CT20 will continue to have an international flavour with Netherlands, Canada and Sussex Sharks,” said Howard.“With Netherlands coming on board fans in that country are sure to be keen on following their exploits so we’re continuing to open up the CT20 to newer markets overseas.“We welcome Sussex who follow other county teams, Hampshire and Somerset, to have had a go in the CT20; and we continue our strong relationship with Canada who have always added North American delight to our Caribbean shores.”