Smith.

The journalist also made his mark as both a top cricketer and a former number one in table tennis. But he often found himself in difficult situations trying to find a balance between being a journalist and an international cricketer.

There were things that came out of the dressing room that Mr. Smith the Sports Editor would not normally have been privy to and thus felt obliged to keep quiet about.

He was often a reluctant inside source.

"It's something I wouldn't be able to do in England at the highest level, but when we look at Bermuda as a community, our community papers tend to be a lot fairer in terms or a person's private life,'' he said.

"You have to figure how important is that in the overall scheme. Any sensational story that I might have done I did them because I would have been privy to them if I was just in my office.

"If I stumbled across something only because I was in the boardroom or dressing room I would leave it and wait for it to surface by proper means. If it didn't surface by proper means then I left it.

"The main thing is I always had a good rapport with my teammates at Western Stars, St. George's and Devonshire Rec. I was always a team player.'' Mr. Smith started to make a name for himself in cricket at an older age than most players, but has been making up for lost time ever since.

So much, his passion for the game is still strong, at an age when most players are getting ready to retire.

Even now if the BCBC invited him to a training session on a day's notice at the other end of the Island, you can rely on him still being there...early.

It's that kind of commitment that is missing from today's players, when many just can't be bothered to make the sacrifice to represent their country.

Mr. Smith was different. On the busiest day for The Royal Gazette sports department, the then Sports Editor was out playing cricket and then coming back into the office and working late into the night putting out the section.

The sacrifice paid off when Mr. Smith broke into the Bermuda team in 1991 and then achieved his dream of playing in Cup Match for St. George's in 1993. A year later he made his International Cricket Conference (ICC) debut for Bermuda in Kenya, scoring a Bermuda single tournament record 392 runs.

The left-handed opening batsman leaves for England in three weeks' time with many sporting goals accomplished. And though Mr. Smith realises he has now probably played his last innings for the Bermuda team, having been ignored this year by the Bermuda selectors, he has left the door open in case his services are needed in Canada next year.

"They have a training squad but as you know with the history of Bermuda cricket, by the time they go to Canada next June or July that squad could be entirely different,'' said the 39-year-old journalist.

"I haven't ruled it out, but I'm not going to be waiting by the phone. I'm looking to play cricket over there but I won't be holding onto any false hopes that Bermuda will be calling on me.

"I pretty much accepted that in the early part of the season when they put a squad together. The problem is they want to phase out this player or that player but the player they are counting on lets them down, which leaves egg on their faces.'' Added Mr. Smith: "I can understand why they are reluctant to make announcements in terms of players, because they don't know who to count on. At one point there were struggling to get people to train. "When I was in the height of playing for Bermuda we were knocking down doors, we would train in the rain, wouldn't miss a training session. Now you have a situation where you have six, eight or nine guys out training and so the selectors and administrations have to feel let down by the people they were giving opportunities to.

"My position still hasn't been filled, from just by looking at the results.'' Having been around sports for so long, Mr. Smith was asked to rate some of the players in cricket and football who stood out for him.

"I haven't witnessed football with the same kind of passion since Andrew Bascome was playing injury free,'' he revealed. "That was a superb footballing family, the Bascome family, and Andrew would be my favourite from a playing point of view. Before I became a journalist I wouldn't go anywhere unless Ralph (Gumbo) Bean was on the field. He was always exciting to watch.'' Mr. Smith lists the 1984-85 PHC team that reached the semi-finals of the CONCACAF Club Championships before losing to the Costa Rican champions as one of the most outstanding teams in the last two decades. In cricket, he calls off such names as Wendell Smith, Clay Smith, Ricky Hill and Albert Steede as outstanding players of the most recent era.

"My favourite player was Lionel Thomas, both for what he did on and off the field,'' he revealed.

"He was the model gentleman. He was far and away my favourite player.

"That 154 (in 1977) he made in Cup Match in St. George's was easily my highlight as a youngster watching cricket.'' "As Bermudians, sometimes there is the problem of being a bit closed- minded in terms of our aspirations and what we can and can't do. This will always be home, it's a rare place. You can just look at the expats, wherever they come from, and how they revel in being here.

"There is so much we don't allow ourselves to take advantage of, whether it's on land or off land. I have never been scuba diving, but when I took the boys out I became a tourist for four weeks.'' Mr. Smith knows what to expect of the weather from his previous trips to the UK. "I can't even think of the cold, I've been there in all seasons,'' he stressed.

"Mind you I've been fortunate in that I've never witnessed extreme weather. I don't foresee having a problem with the weather, the only thing I'll have a problem with is if I can't see the sun.

"I was there last Christmas for three weeks and saw the sun for five minutes.

I rushed outside but by the time I got there it was back behind the clouds again.

"That's just a sacrifice you have to make. I've been blessed for 39 years.

Now it's not so much about me, it's about securing and providing a future for my boys.''