Bailey?s Bay will re-enter Premier League cricket without three key players and with their captain on probation.

The four have been slapped with a range of punishments by club management following an incident last August 30 where the First Division trophy which Bay won ? en route to gaining promotion back to cricket?s top tier ? was thrown into St. George?s Harbour amid post-Eastern Counties celebrations.

Dennis Trott, who actually threw the cup into the water, has been suspended for six matches while his opening-batting partner Jermaine Warner and strike bowler Corey Hill ? who were present at the time ? will sit out two matches each.

?On the night of the incident there was a bit of over-celebrating and we drank and partied a lot - at the end of the night something happened which shouldn?t have happened,?said Trott.

?I do regret it but I cannot take it back. I disgraced myself my family and my club.

But Trott added he thought the ?punishment was a bit much?.

Skipper Jermaine Outerbridge escaped with probation while other Bay players who were also celebrating with their team-mates that night were not brought up on disciplinary charges.

?We were celebrating after winning Eastern Counties and we had all the trophies (with us) and the First Division trophy was among them,? explained one team member who requested anonymity.

?The team was out celebrating and one individual threw the cup over but, because the other players were there, they were also penalised but not everybody was involved in the cup going overboard.?

He queried why Hill, Outerbridge and Warner are being punished when they did not fling the cup into the water.

?We want to know why the other three guys are being held responsible for one man?s actions,? said the Bay cricketer.

?The club received a letter of apology from the individual who threw the trophy overboard (Trott) but for some reason they disregarded that letter at the hearing and took it upon themselves to handle it in their own way, for what reasons we don?t know.

?I don?t know if they are targeting certain persons or what. I think it?s very unjust.?

Outerbridge, who replaces Dennis Pilgrim as captain this season, also does not think players should be punished given ?the way the incident went down?.

?The night it happened there was a lot of ignorance (going on) and half the guys don?t even remember what happened. It was just one of those things that was blown out of proportion and guys are being punished,? Outerbridge told .

?Unfortunately, it happened and the club has taken action and we have to live with it.?

Club president Gary Caisey was tight-lipped on the matter though confirming players had been disciplined.

?The club has had this disciplinary matter resolved and we?ve sent a report to the BCB. If you want to read that go to the cricket board,? he said.

?We?ve done what we had to do and I?m not going to make this thing any more controversial.?

Apart from their bans, the players have had to literally pay for their actions as the Bermuda Cricket Board (BCB) demanded they replace the First Division cup which, though recovered, was damaged.

?The team got together and decided we would pay for the trophy from the team?s account; the team has a separate account from when we have fundraisers,? said the team member.

?We took our own money and gave it to the BCB to replace the trophy. It was about $500.

?The BCB wasn?t concerned about disciplining anybody. The club took it upon themselves to discipline certain individuals.?

It?s a situation that has left coach Ricky Hill scratching his head over Bay?s starting XI as the season opens.

?It put me, as a coach, in a difficult position because I would like to go with our strongest team but I?ve prepared for it; to tough it out,? said Hill, the older brother of banned player Corey Hill.

?I?ve put something in place to deal with the absence of the players who are suspended. I?m not too worried. It did disturb the team morale at the beginning but we had a long talk about it.?

While concerned about the gap at the top of the order with Trott and Warner?s suspensions, he expressed confidence that the team has enough talent to weather this situation.

?We have a good balance of batsmen. It?s just a matter of getting them mentally ready for the beginning of the season,? said the coach.

Hill also noted that the three suspended players are still training with Bay?s squad and remain committed to the club.

?That?s nice to see. It shows they are enthusiastic and it?s a sign of maturity.?