IT?S been a peculiar cricket season to say the least.

Internationally, we may never have had a better one ? qualification for the World Cup during an outstanding performance at the ICC Trophy in Ireland followed by an equally impressive victory in the three-day Intercontinental Cup in Canada.

Yet on the home front it?s been less than ordinary ? a Cup Match best forgotten and a farcical finale to the Two-Day League last weekend when, for a myriad of reasons, just two out of the eight scheduled matches went ahead.

As the season draws to its close, there are still a number of outstanding issues to be resolved ? Cup Match MVP, disciplinary action over the many incidents which soured this summer?s classic, and now relegation from the Two-Day League given that there remain no spare dates to reschedule last weekend?s matches.

A bowl-off will now determine whether Social Club or Devonshire Recreation Club make the drop, hardly an ideal way of settling relegation although decidedly better than the flip of a coin which settled recent rain-affected cup matches.

All in all there?s plenty for Bermuda Cricket Board to think about, both now and ahead of next season.

While much of their time, quite rightly, will be consumed by preparation for the World Cup finals in the West Indies, a close look seemingly needs to be taken at how best to structure the domestic programme.

Almost every year it?s the same scenario once Cup Match is over. Interest falls off, umpires and players fail to show and the season drifts into total disarray.

This weekend, for instance, should see the semi-finals and finals of the Central Counties Cup and the final of the Combined Knockout Cup, but in light of what transpired a week ago it?s anybody?s guess whether any or all of those games will be played.

Complicating matters even further is the start ? premature perhaps ? of the new football season, meaning that players in both sports will be forced to choose between one or the other.

Both the Martonmere Cup and Commercial League are scheduled to kick off this weekend, when ideally they might have been held over for at least another week until the bulk of cricket matches had been completed.

However, it would be wrong to blame Bermuda Football Association for the mess cricket perennially finds itself mired in at this time of year.

At the amateur level, nobody can force players and umpires to make the kind of commitment cricket requires, particularly in the Two-Day League. Yet at the same time, if we want to continue to succeed on the world stage it?s absolutely critical that our domestic programme runs a lot more efficiently than it has this year.

BCB officials will likely argue that?s easier said than done.

The Board can only do so much. It?s up to the clubs, the players and the umpires to play their part.

If apathy continues to reign and problems such as those that decimated the programme last weekend persist, the only loser will be the sport itself.

KHANO SMITH Smith fired home another superb individual goal to give his New England Revolution side maximum points against Real Salt Lake over the weekend ? further proof that he belongs in Major League Soccer, and perhaps even with a better club in Europe.

As national coach Kyle Lightbourne reiterated this week, the more Bermudians who play abroad the better Bermuda?s national team will become.

It?s a view long held by the likes of Clyde Best, and others who have taken their talents overseas.

Yet there still seem to be those in Bermuda who think that our own top club sides are every bit as good as those in the MLS or even the lower English divisions, such as that in which Shaun Goater now finds himself playing.

Make no mistake, Goater?s Southend, despite their current League One status, would whip the pants off every team playing in our Premier League. And clubs a division below would do the same.

There?s no doubt Bermuda produces a number of exceptionally talented players. But like Smith, they can only improve if they pursue opportunities on either side of the Atlantic.