National cricket coach Mark Harper has been released by Bermuda Cricket Board and will leave the Island at the end of the domestic season.

In a short statement released exclusively to yesterday, the governing body said that they were ?not in a position to offer Mr.Harper a long-term extension to his contract? and went on to thank him for his services to Bermuda cricket.

?Mr. Harper has reached the end of his fixed term three-year contract with the Bermuda Cricket Board,? the statement read.

?It is with great regret that we are not in a position to offer Mark a new contract. The Board, however, would like to take this opportunity to thank him for all his efforts and enthusiasm over the last three years and wish him luck in all his future endeavours.?

In his time at the helm, Harper has guided the national team through the 2001 ICC Trophy tournament in Canada, two Americas Championships in Argentina and Bermuda and the newly formed Intercontinental Cup.

Under his tenure, Bermuda?s under-15 squad have won back to back Americas Championships while the senior national team qualified for the 2005 ICC Trophy in Ireland by finishing third behind Canada and USA in the regional competition earlier this summer.

An efficient administrator with a keen cricketing mind, Harper, on arrival in Bermuda in 2001, published a detailed report entitled ?Bermuda Cricket: The Way Forward?, which called for sweeping changes to the structure of local cricket.

This year, he was invited to sit on the BCB?s new technical committee, which oversaw the introduction of two-day league cricket to the Island.

Throughout his time in Bermuda, however, the former Guyanese first-class player has been dogged by widespread criticism from players and commentators alike.

Among a long list of complaints, he has been accused of failing to motivate and command the respect of many national team cricketers, lacking energy and dynamism in training sessions and displaying poor communication skills.

In an interview earlier this month, Harper conceded that he ?would have liked to have done more? during his three years in Bermuda, but argued that with ?very limited resources? at his disposal, the progress that has been made ?is not as small as some are prone to make out.?

?Obviously I would have liked to have achieved more but you can only work with what you have. Only a handful of schools play cricket and only a handful of them have ever responded to my request to come in and work with the kids,? said Harper.

?But bearing in mind the lack of practice facilities and the fact that there have been so few international matches played over the last few years, I think getting to Ireland was a very good achievement and I?m proud of that.?