Michael Weeks, the Shadow Minister for Sport, has called for an inquiry to get to the bottom of Bermuda’s poor showing at the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division Three tournament in Malaysia.

Bermuda finished bottom of the six-nation standings and were relegated to Division Four after winning just one of their six games.

“In terms of the Malaysia tour, we need to have an inquiry and the findings be made public because the goal should always be to see where we went wrong and correct it for future events,” Weeks said.

“My first reaction to our performance in Malaysia was disbelief. At a minimum I would have hoped that, because of our level of cricket, we would have avoided the drop to Division Four.

“There was a time when we had the capacity and ability to defeat these teams.”

Weeks said that all of local cricket’s stakeholders must share the blame for the disastrous tour of Malaysia, which has further tarnished Bermuda’s reputation at international level.

“All stakeholders, including BCB, must take responsibility for what we are seeing or not seeing,” Weeks added.

Weeks also took issue with those players who have much to offer yet refuse to play for their country, opting instead to make club cricket their top priority.

“Country must come before club,” Weeks said. “If there are players who refuse to represent their country, then we must consider whether or not they should be eligible to play at the club level in sporting events such as Cup Match.”

Bermuda has been in free- fall since appearing at the 2007 World Cup and Weeks believes that the reason for the steady decline stems from poor planning.

“Upon our return from the World Cup, did we have an ironclad plan to continue to keep competing at the highest level?,” he said.

“I venture to say that it was skill and ability that got us to the 2007 World Cup, but a lack of strategic planning upon our return caused this drastic decline.”

With Bermuda players such as Janeiro Tucker, Lionel Cann and David Hemp nearing the end of their international careers, Weeks said that nurturing potential talent at grass-roots level must become a priority to best prepare them for the rigours of associate cricket.

“We must begin to focus on our youth therefore building a strong network of cricketers, from Primary through High School, and a high level of training both on and off the field to ready the players both physically and mentally,” he added.

Weeks believes that Bermuda’s demise on the world stage can be arrested with the proper approach.

“I believe that cricket can be resurrected but we need to take an introspective look, starting at the club level,” he said.

“If we are serious about the game of cricket on the Island, then the Bermuda Cricket Board may need to consider — with the assistance of the Department of Immigration — bringing in per club one or two semi-professional or professional players temporarily to help to enhance the cricket product at each of the domestic clubs.

“This would assist in raising the level of cricket at the clubs and would at the same time provide in house professional development and training for the players.”