Local cricket umpires Steven Douglas and Wali Manders are heading off to Surinam tomorrow where they will officiate in this month?s ICC Americas Division Three Championship involving Brazil, Turks and Caicos, Chile and the host country.

The eventual winners will advance to the next stage (Division Two) of the tournament to be held in Argentina in April.

The local pair were appointed to the ICC Americas A Panel of umpires last December and are now eligible to officiate in official ICC Americas regional tournaments and any other official international or regional matches that fall under under the auspices of the ICC Development programme.

Douglas, a former Cleveland County early order batsman and umpire for the past nine years, told The Royal Gazette: ?First and foremost it is always an honour to represent your country and the association with whom you are associated (Bermuda Cricket Umpires Association).

?Basically you just go out there and acclimatise yourself and try to do the best that you know how to do. I have been speaking with many senior umpires to try and get tips from them as well to help prepare myself for the next level.?

The month of February has been a busy one for local umpires on the international stage as ICC Americas Elite umpires George Francis and Roger Dill were summoned to duty in Dubai and Sri Lanka.

Francis accompanied Bermuda?s World Cup-bound senior national team to Sharjah while Dill is currently officiating at the Under 19 World Cup in Sri Lanka.

Dill also travelled to Namibia with the senior national team last October.

For Douglas, brother of Bermuda Cricket Board executive and former national coach Allan Douglas and top sprinter Troy Douglas, this month?s tournament which begins on February 13 will mark his first international assignment since the 2004 Americas Championships staged on local soil.

?We are basically on call for all regional (Americas) tournaments and hopefully when we arrive in Surinam we can get a clearer picture of the full schedule for this year and what has been planned,? Douglas, 50, added.

?I think Bermudian umpires have always tried to set themselves high standards and it is always pleasing to be rewarded for your hard work at the end of the day.?

Another top local umpire, Lester Harnett, will accompany both Douglas and Manders to Surinam. However, the sole purpose of Harnett?s visit is to attend an ICC umpire?s seminar.

With doors beginning to open for local umpires on the international front, Manders, a former Hamilton Parish middle order bat and umpire with 17 years experiencey hopes the new dawning will encourage younger members to join Bermuda Cricket Umpires Association in the near future.

?If you look at some of the top umpires around the world these guys are 36 and 37 years old. I am a little older now and so I hope to see younger blood out there. Look at Roger Dill,? the BCUA vice-president told The Gazette.

?Cricket is now competing with football all around the world. You can go places and reach great heights in the sport.?

Manders has previous experience officiating in Americas Championship qualifying tournaments, having done so in Panama in 2004.

As for his recent appointment to the ICC Americas A Panel of umpires, the veteran umpire smiled: ?Maybe I was a bit lucky for an old man but at the same time it also shows you can go to another level.

?I might not have officiated in Cup Match but as far as I am concerned officiating in international matches is the highest level one can reach.?