the points for a postponed game against his team.

And now he is to protest in writing to Bermuda Cricket Board of Control over a decision which he feels is unwarranted and has dealt a major blow to Stars' title hopes.

Stars were due to host the clash with PHC at St. John's Field on May 2, the opening day of the Premier League season.

But the ground had been churned up during the soccer season and was used only last month for training by Dandy Town in preparation for the FA Cup final and was therefore not ready for cricket.

Manders, also the club captain and secretary, said he had informed PHC and the BCBC of the situation two weeks before the match date.

And he was shocked and annoyed to discover yesterday that the Board had decided to give PHC the two points.

"I'm frustrated, I'm angry and I don't see how they can justify awarding the points to PHC,'' said Manders.

"I spoke to PHC and we were trying to rearrange the match for May 23 and the PHC coach said he'd get back to me.

"That was the last I heard. But they must have written to ask for the points.'' Manders added that Stars had received a letter from the BCBC telling them of the decision but not explaining the reasons behind it.

He said he had tried every possible alternative in a bid to get the match played on the scheduled date.

But his attempts to find another venue were fruitless, with Somerset Bridge, Nationals and St. David's all unavailable.

"They had a Commercial League game at St. David's and I asked two or three times if they'd switch it so we could play our Premier League game there, but they wouldn't do it,'' said Manders.

"I asked the Board if we could play on Astroturf for that one match, but they refused and said no league games were to be played on Astroturf.'' Stars are one of a clutch of teams with realistic title chances, something which exacerbated Manders' frustration.

"We are a championship team and this means we cannot afford not to win all of our matches,'' he added.

No-one from the BCBC was available for comment last night.