criticism of local cricket was meant to be constuctive and not designed solely to embarrass the governing body.

"The views that I have expressed were all based on what I have seen and what I have been told by many of the players, both present and past,'' assured Parfitt when informed that his views had upset Bermuda Cricket Board of Control.

He claimed earlier this week that Bermuda cricket was on the decline, with a noticeable absence of quality pace and medium pace bowling, and loaded with individual players who had natural ability but were in desperate need of coaching to strengthen their game.

He said Bermuda had gone backwards and the BCBC "needed to get their act together'' if cricket was to return to its past prominence. He also felt that the employment of a national coach was a necessity and scoffed at the excuses given for not employing such a leader.

Added to his list of concerns about the present state of the sport was the failure of the BCBC to revive the Shell Youth League, something which he said was necessary to further develop young players on the Island.

"Without a tournament like Shell's, I don't see any real development here.

You can't just run a skeleton league for a few weeks during the summer to replace Shell, you simply cannot,'' said Parfitt.

"A properly run youth league like the Shell league enabled the young cricketers to achieve greater heights. In fact, it was vital to get into the schools and then build from there,'' he added.

Aware that his relationship with the BCBC has been shaky over the years, Parfitt said he anticipated that his remarks would irritate board officials.

But he insisted the facts spoke for themselves, noting that they were based on what he had seen during his testimonial at Lord's last Saturday and what he had heard about Bermuda cricket from players, ex-players and the many local followers of the sport.

"I know the BCBC don't like criticism, whether it's constructive or not, but I have only been answering questions that have been asked of me. I can't understand how anybody can say that I have been stirring up trouble, I have just been echoing what I have heard and seen,'' he explained.

According to the former St. George's and Bermuda national team star, the need for a coach and a good junior programme were obvious since no country wanting to achieve international success operated without such basics.

When he returns to Scotland Parfitt will be heavily involved with coaching players at a very young age and he felt it was a shame that Bermuda youngsters didn't have the same coaching privileges.

"We have players going on to represent Scotland at a national level who have come up through the Under-13, Under-15 and Under-18 squads. All of these national teams are currently active and still very productive for our senior squads,'' he said.

Parfitt thanked Custerfield Crockwell and his committee for organising the weekend's testimonial and revealed that he had already expressed a willingness to return next year if a similar honour was bestowed on somebody else.

"Bermuda has so many great people who have contributed a lot to the sport of cricket. I am sure others will be just as thrilled as I have been to get honoured this way,'' he said.