The following letter was forwarded to Islandstats.com, Bermuda Cricket Board and The Royal Gazette by ICC Americas Regional Manager Martin Vieira:

One would think with all the activity generated by current Bermudan (sic) national teams there would be enough positive things to fill cyberspace. But here we go again!

DoesIslandstats.com in their six month investigation discover that Kevin James was born in Canada? He would have to show a Canadian passport or birth certificate. It was also established that Kevin James attended school in Canada.

Just recently before the tournament (Under-19 Americas Championship) he moved back to his parents homeland in Dominica. Maybe they should have hired the CSI team.

Before every ICC Americas tournament the Event Manager (in this case Mr.Grant Dugmore) and a team of neutral umpires check all original documents to verify that the players meet the ICC conditions of eligibility.

In the recent U19 WCQT (World Cup qualifying tournament) all players from all five countries were processed and approved to play. All players for Canada qualified under one of the four core nationality criteria and all players met the development criteria by playing their junior cricket in Canada.

The hotel for this tournament was not the Marriott as reported (I am tempted to say maybe that is why he missed the Canadian team) but the Hampton Inn at Toronto Airport. There were only two Canadian players in the hotel because the ICC Americas does not pay for the host country team to stay in the hotel with the exception of any out of town players. In this case it was Mr. Kalon who resided in Alberta ,Canada and Mr. James who resided in Dominica. As stated, Mr James and all other players met the criteria .

Question: How does David Hemp and Stefan Kelly qualify to play for Bermuda? They do not seem to live there for most of the year. Did Kelly meet qualifications for this tournament? According to my Event Manager he was approved. What is the difference between him and Mr.James, both born in the country they are representing, both have national passports, both play cricket in their countries and spent the necessary time required.

Should I take away the Championship from Bermuda because Kelly played? As stated before, all players who participated in the U19 WCQT were eligible to play according to our screening committee.

If Islandstats or anyone else have proof that they did not then they should produce those documents or correct their sensational journalism.

The ICC Americas image should not be questioned without proof. We have on file a document signed by Canada (as with all other countries) stating all their players were eligible under the ICC criteria.

It is a serious offence to make a false statement and I would assume that Canada would not be too happy with some of the comments made here as they go beyond questioning Mr.James but imply other players as well. ICC Americas have no reason to believe that the proper screening process was not applied fairly to all participants of this tournament and therefore totally reject the absurd suggestions implied in this article.

I cannot answer why Mr James appeared for Dominica in the Stanford 20/00. I have no control over that tournament eligibility rules or the Dominica Cricket Association conditions for making their national squad.

MARTIN VIEIRA

ICC AMERICAS REGIONAL MANAGER