Dear Sir,

I am writing this letter of history that was asked by a few people about the late Alma (champ) Hunt's cricket and I do hope they treasure it by putting it in their scrap books.

Mr. Hunt was a great man, a real man of class in all departments.

I first came into contact with him when I attended West End School in Somerset, I was about ten or 11 years old. We used to practise cricket in the driveway for one hour twice a week, he used to put one shilling on top of the base and whoever bowled him out got the shilling.

Many times a few of us hit the base but never got the money, he would always say that he was not ready or point out that we bowled a no ball or too many of us were bowling at the same time. But it turned out all for the good for me and a few others because we learned plenty from him and to this day I in particular thank him for it.

Mr. Hunt was a left-handed batsman who was very upright and powerful. He played every shot in the book and I saw him later after he returned to the Island from Scotland where he played as a professional at Aberdeenshire Cricket Club. He scored his first century at the tender age of 12 years old and he finished with a total of 115 centuries overall.

In 1941 he scored 104 in the annual Cup Match classic, he played around 12 Cup Matches over a period of 21 years from 1927 to 1948 and he scored 762 runs.

In bowling he took six for 19 in 1932, he was invited to play in the trials in Trinidad in 1933 which was the same year the bodyline bowling took place in Australia.

He holds so many records in Scotland, he scored over 5,000 runs while playing there and took over 100 wickets.

In 1933 during the West Indies trials he made 50 and 36 and in one spell of bowling he took five wickets for ten runs. In the second trial he made 50 and took three for 45 runs.

Despite these fine performances he was not selected yet Christopher Nicole, during a survey written in the Phoenix Sports book in 1959, stated that Hunt's produced the best batting performance during the trials.

He shared in opening partnerships of over 200 twice and partnered in 100-run stands 11 times and struck three consecutive centuries in Scotland where he constantly thrilled crowds with batting, bowling and fielding.

He was capped for Scotland in 1938 against Australia and played against such greats as Don Bradman, Ray Linidwall and Keith Miller just to name a few.

In 1933 during the West Indies trials he played against and with some of the greatest such as C.A.Roach, J.A.Small, M.Marftindale and I can recall Hunt bringing Marftindale to Bermuda.

Many felt that had Hunt been selected for the West Indies he would have made a big difference because of his natural ability.

He has also taken a lot of tours out of Bermuda to places such as England, Scotland, United States, Canada and the West Indies.

I will never forget the time when Somerset CC went to England in 1961. He took the entire group throughout Lord's, looking into every room, and Somerset became the first club to have a picture taken in the garden at the famous ground all because of Hunt.

He was welcomed by all wherever he went during the six weeks we were there, from England to Scotland and to Wales, a lot of people knew of him as a great man.

Lastly, he once told me that in 1948 he came home and captained Somerset in Cup Match and gave St. George's a two to one but pointed out that he never made ten runs in the game, one out being a duck.

But he stressed the importance of the team winning being the major factor and all that mattered to him.

This sir is my little effort to get others to know more about someone who was not only the best cricketer in Bermuda but who was truly a great man.

Dear Sir,

I wish to commend the sterling efforts of the Bermuda cricket team after their triumph in the World Cricket League Americas Division One tournament.

Their performance has been exemplary and it foreshadows a competitive showing in the upcoming Cricket World Cup next year. For men who are expected to demonstrate international standards like the other world teams while being part-time cricketers, they should be acclaimed. For men who have bedecked Bermuda into the quilt of world cricket while struggling to promote the game as more than Cup Match to many Bermudians, their achievement is praiseworthy.

However, I once again have reservations about this victory with regard to the team's preparedness for the World Cup.

As imperative it was for the Bermudian team to compete in this recent tournament and many previous ones, I firmly believe that the players and their supporters are done a disservice. This team, at this point, needs healthier cricket exposure. The United States, the Cayman Islands, Argentina and Canada do not currently offer such competition and I think this does more harm than good to the Bermuda cricket team and its followers. Everyone is lured into a false sense of international victory.

From my knowledge of West Indies cricket, Bermuda did not oppose very strong teams on its recent tour of Trinidad. Many of the teams that Bermuda challenged were missing key players ? players whose names dominate Trinidadian and West Indies cricket. What was the outcome? The Bermuda team felt comfortable about their level of competitiveness and realised the opposite when it encountered Jamaica in the Stanford 20/20 tournament.

Mr. Logie and his players have undoubtedly made huge strides since Bermuda's appearance on the international cricket scene, but to prevent future ignominy in major tournaments, they need to start confronting better opposition.

It will be to their benefit and the rest of Bermuda.