National cricket coach Gus Logie has lambasted clubs who continue to show apathy towards progress and urged them to "invest more in the development of their players" - or possibly risk losing them to an elite programme which would be geared towards producing well-rounded cricketers best suited for the national level.

Stopping just shy of issuing an ultimatum, the Trinidadian, who coached the West Indies to glory at the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy in England, said if clubs were not prepared to buy into Bermuda Cricket Board's (BCB) broader vision to move the sport forward the Board, might have to look at other alternatives - such as identifying and recruiting talent at the grassroots level and nurturing it in an academy as clubs were no longer holding their end of the bargain in terms of player development.

"If the clubs are not going to take the responsibility to develop their own players to understand, appreciate and respect the rules and laws of the game then perhaps the Board may have to take these individuals out of the club system entirely," Logie suggested.

"Perhaps the Board should extract the best 16 to 20 players on the Island and have them attend school and practise together and arrange competition for them outside of what is happening here (in the domestic leagues) in an academy.

"I'm certain if that was done you would see improvement from the players and this programme has to be a long -term plan because at the end of the day you need players to have more contact time with the national coach or technical director so that their philosophy is being drilled.

"What would be even better is to have the national philosophy or way of coaching to play the game trickle down to the clubs so that they will have a similar understanding of what we are teaching the players at the national level."

Logie believes that clubs are presently falling short when it comes to educating cricketers about the fundamentals of the game as well as instilling discipline and setting standards for them to adhere to.

"You cannot teach a player at the club level to do whatever he wants, when he wants and then when he comes to the national team he thinks he can do the same. Thought processes such as this hinder the national programme but these are some of the issues we are faced with," he argued.

"Clubs need to make sure their programmes are conducive to the improvement of the players all around and not only in batting or bowling. It must be a holistic programme in terms of development of the players.

"Players must be taught about the rules and laws that exist and have respect for the game because at the end of the day we need to do more to help the young players so by the time they get to the national level they are aware and used to a certain ritual and simple things like video analysis."

Logie said far too often precious time was lost teaching so-called senior players some of the fundamentals of the game which he feels should have already been instilled at the club level.

"It's really and truly difficult trying to make adjustments to players' technique at that level when really I should be preparing them solely for competition," he said. "When a player gets to the national level that's the last place he should be taught basically the fundamentals of the game.

"Often I've had to go over and over the mental side and basics of the game with players which is something that should be done at the club level where the players play most of their cricket.

"When I came to Bermuda (in 2005) my mandate was simply to get Bermuda to the World Cup and I tried to do everything I could to get them there.

"My priority was never to develop club cricket in Bermuda and one of my biggest disappointments is that I don't see that the clubs have accepted basically what is happening at the national level.

"I don't think the clubs have responded over the years to many requests from the Board to implement strategies in terms of policies and guidelines and philosophy for the clubs to improve the performances of their players.

"This is a reality and for whatever reasons there seems to be a reluctance by the clubs to accept some of the ideas that have been put forth that have been challenged on many occasions.

"I think the clubs have to pull their socks up because they are the bedrock of the national team. And if they are not willing then perhaps the Board may have to look for other solutions to achieve the sort of progress we are looking for."