Long-time cricket executive Reginald Pearman yesterday became the second person to confirm his intention to run for the presidency of Bermuda Cricket Board of Control next month.

His announcement means that it is now likely to be a two-horse race for the top post with Pearman and Keith Wainwright battling to replace incumbent El James who announced several weeks ago that he would not run for a second term.

The current first vice-president of the BCBC and a former long-serving president of Somerset Cricket Club, Pearman is seen as a creditable opponent and will probably be considered the favourite over Wainwright who has never served on the Board.

Pearman's disclosure came as a surprise as it had been generally accepted that he was not interested in continuing as an executive for too much longer.

But both Wainwright and James declared Pearman's decision to run as a positive move, insisting that cricket would be the real winner with two individuals with varying talents offering themselves for selection.

Pearman said he would prefer to see some sort of continuity in the administration of cricket, adding that this was the sole reason he was running for election.

But he pointed out that he would be ideally suited to the position while somebody else was being groomed.

"Yes, I have decided to run," said Pearman yesterday. "My reason is based on my feeling that some sort of continuity should be in place. I have been there with the current executive, putting these programmes together and rather than seeing everybody going at the same time it would be helpful to have somebody stick around a while longer.

"I have been involved with cricket for over 25 years, having originally come on the Board as a club representative for Somerset, and I have seen a lot of changes.

"But for the moment, hopefully, I would like to see continued progress added to what we have built up over the last three years. It is so important to ensure continuity."

Pearman noted that the current administration had made much progress, including strengthening its ties with the Americas Region and setting up many senior and junior international tournaments. And he reckoned that there was still some feeling among the executives that more could be done in the area of youth development and the youth leagues.

While he applauded the fact that they (current executives) had kept their promise to revive the youth cricket league which was dormant for several years, much more effort, he said, needed to be made to ensure that the league ran more smoothly.

"Another thing I will admit that we have been disappointed with is the work that the clubs have been doing," added Pearman.

"The club representatives have to be honest when they come to the Board, they need to remember that they are serving for the good of cricket and not for just what happens in their respective clubs."

Wainwright credited Pearman for his service as an executive and admitted he would be a formidable opponent. But he made it clear that he had not been deterred from contesting the top post, nor would he be discouraged if he lost out in the voting and had to settle for another executive position.

"Mr. Pearman is a long-time administrator in cricket and I see his decision to run for the president as a positive move because the more good candidates there are running, at the end of the day the cricket issues tend to have a better chance of getting resolved," said Wainwright.

"For example, if candidate A has five or six issues put forward and B the same, out of the twelve issues on the table you will get about eight or nine accomplished because everybody will view them all as being legitimate and justified for discussion and subsequent approval. That's how I look at it.

"I think it's certainly a healthy situation, I am not turned off by having a challenge or being put into a position where I have to run against somebody with a wealth of experience. I fear nothing, my position is that I am very much interested in a senior position with the Board . . . a challenge is healthy, no one person has all of the ideas for cricket and I will be looking forward to being involved one way or another."

Current president El James concurred with Wainwright.

"It's healthy to have two very capable people running. If Mr. Pearman has thrown his hat into the race, it's good for cricket, there is more than one position, it's the president and then the first and second vice-presidents and so on," said James.

"I think we will have two good people at the head, regardless of who takes over what position. I think the Board can't lose and cricket will be in good hands. I don't know if anybody else is interested in running. I will not, I haven't changed my mind."