The Bermuda Cricket season is now over and there were some highs and some lows. In fact it wasn’t all that most of us had envisioned, but there are a few positives in the season that was simply just a cricket season, nothing more, nothing less.It was good to see the MVP award for the season given to Stephen Outerbridge. This choice was a no brainer due to his outstanding season as a player and as a captain. His leadership qualities, along with his disciplined batting helped an otherwise ordinary Bailey’s Bay team to winning not only the League title, but other major trophies. Above all of this was his ability to display his consistency week in and week out, and that is what won him this award outright and he deserves all of the accolades that come along with it.I know one hasn’t been picked yet, but my Young Player of the Year was a little more difficult to choose, as two young men in particular managed to raise their game beyond their years. Alex Dore and Delray Rawlins, are both left handed batsmen and left handed spin bowlers. As young as they are they both made a huge impact in their senior teams.Alex plays for Southampton Rangers in the Premier Division, while Delray plays for PHC in the first division. Not much separates the two, but in the end Alex is my young player of the year because he scored runs during critical stages and helped to consolidate Ranger’s innings on a few occasions, which in turn helped them to avoid relegation.As for the Cup Match MVP award, it is baffling as to how this has not yet been decided. Two years ago this very same issue was discussed in a meeting with Somerset and St George’s. It was then agreed that immediately following the game, both coaches along with the third umpire, would get together and select a MVP for Cup Match. The MVP was to be announced during the presentation, but presented the trophy and prizes later the following week. So how did the two clubs get back to square one? With the game ending at 4:30pm there is no excuse for not choosing one. This is simply unacceptable and needs to be addressed again so that moving forward this is dealt with not only swiftly, but in a timely manner.The season itself came and went with very little excitement in the leagues. What was supposed to be a top six ended up being a top five, and if we are honest a top three. Devonshire Rec lost several players and were in a rebuilding stage, thus they offered very little competition. Cleveland after the loss of Glenn Blakeney to St George’s and Damali Bell to school, were always going to struggle to stay up. Southampton Rangers were also in a major rebuilding phase, which left St David’s, Bailey’s Bay, and Willow Cuts to battle it out for the league title. Disappointing to say the least, but it is what it is.In the First Division, it turned out to be competitive, but umpire shortage hurt this division tremendously and once again the question is what are we going to do about it? Somerset outright dominated this league with a strong Western Stars team finishing runners up. However, this league ended in controversy as the BCB cancelled the last week of games in which Flatts could have still finished second and possibly gained promotion. Was the Cricket Board correct in doing what they did by scrapping the games with so much at stake? Personally, I say no, they could have and still should play the games as there is too much at stake not to. The BCB 50 over rules clearly states that the BCB under exceptional circumstances has the right to order games to be replayed. Earlier in the year the Cricket Board rescheduled not one, but two games that were supposed to be played at Wellington Oval because their wicket wasn’t prepared when every other wicket on the Island was. Is that an exceptional circumstance? Clearly, if that was deemed exceptional than surely a hurricane threat on the Island can be deemed exceptional, especially when a possible promotion spot was on the line. This is a case when clearly the Cricket Board needed to be flexible and make a decision in the best interest of cricket and they didn’t.Now that I’m on the outside looking in with no strings attached my eyes have been opened even further. From an administrative standpoint our cricket is blooming to some degree. However, it is on the field, not in the office where our problems truly lie, and we continue to fail in this area. We continue to fail in improving the standard of our game on the field. Our product on the field is embarrassing, to put it nicely, and the shortage of umpires doesn’t help the cause at all. The amount of First Division games that were not played this year due to umpire shortages was shocking and totally unacceptable. This sadly is one of many on the field issues that we continue to have, but we fail to truly address it and find a solution.Another season is over, another season plagued with the same issues, and now another national team vying to conquer the daunting task ahead. Please let’s not make the same mistakes again. Some critical decisions have to be made if we are to maximise our potential. The whole cricketing fraternity once again will be patiently waiting for the following questions to be answered. Who will the training squad consist of? Who will be given the daunting task of captaining Bermuda in a major tournament on our local soil? Will we finally have the tools in place early enough to prepare for success?Bermuda cricket lovers await the answers. Time will tell!