The Bermuda Cricket Board has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Western Counties Cricket Association and the Evening Cricket League, to forge better relations between the two groups.

The agreement was announced yesterday by the BCB and representatives from the Western Counties and Evening Cricket League. “The purpose of the MOU is to set forth an agreement for the exchange of information and where mutually beneficial, the collaboration on initiatives, including cricket programmes, match regulations, best practices, scheduling and public relations,” the BCB said in a statement.

“Moreover to identify and agree the roles and responsibilities of each party as they relate to their common aim of promoting cricket in Bermuda generally, and in the counties in particular.”

Lloyd Smith, president of the Bermuda Cricket Board, is pleased with the development, saying that the same is hoped to be achieved with the two Cup Match clubs who govern local cricket’s oldest competition.

“As I came on as president, I understood that we had a lack of communication between the association, county groups, as well as the Evening Cricket League, so one of my goals was to have an agreement with all the other entities of cricket,” Smith said.

“As the president of the Bermuda Cricket Board, one of my initiatives is to unify cricket in Bermuda, as we know all of the organisations were working as a separate entity.

“So far we have the Eastern Counties on board and now we have the Western Counties and Evening Cricket League. The only other party not on board is the Cup Match clubs, and we’re still having meetings with them.”

The Central Counties, Smith noted, does not have an executive in place at present.

“We’re not going to govern but make sure regulations are up to standards of best practices when it comes to match regulations and code of conduct,” Smith explained.

“We are also here for them if they need help with administration or any additional help with regulations. They will run their own leagues, but we are here as the governing body, if they need help.

“We are not looking to govern any competition, we feel the organisations are doing their best. But if they need assistance we are there for them.”

Teresa Burrows, president of the Western Counties, said: “On behalf of the executive and members of the WCCA, I would like to thank my executive and the BCB to getting this MOU completed. We started back in 2019 and we are pleased to be able to sign off on this agreement.”

Terence Corday, director of the Evening Cricket League, added: “On behalf of president Marc Wetherhill, the executive and member teams of the ECL, I would like to express our sincerest appreciation to the BCB for having invited us to become part of this historic partnership.

“The ECL plays an important role by providing recreational but competitive fun cricket for former BCB alumni and aspiring Under-19 national academy players.”