David Dyer to intervene after a decision by the Education Department not to pay cricketers Albert Steede and Arnold Manders while they represent the Island in the ICC Tournament in Malaysia in March.

Dr. Dyer is just six days into his first ministerial post but already he is about to tackle a major issue as the country's top cricketers prepare for the ICC tournament, which will involve the non-Test playing countries.

BCBC president Ed Bailey, though reluctant to discuss the matter publicly, confirmed that he had received a letter from Chief Education Officer Dr.

Joseph Christopher explaining the Department's position regarding the two players.

"A letter had gone off and Dr. Joseph Christopher has written me back and the letter indicates they are not willing to pay them for Malaysia because they already have the maximum amount of representative leave from the Guyana Tour (Shell/Sandals in October),'' explained Bailey.

Dr. Christopher did not return a phone call yesterday.

The two players, with families and obligations, stand to lose thousands of dollars in pay if they take the unpaid leave for the five weeks they are away from work.

Already they are having part of their wages deducted from January when time was taken off to travel with the Bermuda team for a short tour of Guyana.

Two other Bermuda internationals, who could also be in the squad for Malaysia -- Roger Trott and Bruce Perinchief -- are also Government employees and may face the same problem.

"I will be taking a letter to the Minister of Youth and Sports and asking him to sit down with the Cabinet Secretary and sort it out,'' said Bailey.

"I always wanted to go through the proper process and exhaust that before going public. I don't think we have exhausted all the avenues available to us.

"I'm still optimistic that the Minister of Sport will be able to sit down with his Cabinet colleagues and the Secretary of Cabinet and come up with a solution to the problem. The new Minister is one who I have the utmost confidence in.'' Manders admitted that he could not afford to lose up to five weeks' in salary, which amounts to about $5,600, having already lost four days from the last Guyana tour.

"I can't afford that, I've got a mortgage to pay,'' explained Manders who has been a teacher for 14 years and has represented Bermuda in three ICC Tournaments, captaining the 1986 and '90 teams.

Bailey also admitted having the strongest possible team would be important if Bermuda were to achieve their goal of playing in the World Cup against the top Test nations.

"I'm optimistic that they will get compensation for their period there,'' said the president. But he stressed that the BCBC was in no position to compensate the players. "The air ticket and accomodation alone are highly expensive,'' said Bailey. "It would be totally unfair to the board who are carrying all the other financial responsibilities of the tournament.

"I emphasised the importance of having both players, one being the captain and the other a senior player. But it's not only they in Education having a problem. I also anticipate it in two other Government departments.

"Cricket being our national sport, what can be gained from this can open up avenues for young Bermuda cricketers and it can do a lot for our current cricketers from a professional point of view.'' "Also the financial stakes will certainly be well worth Bermuda having its best team and the players not carrying any finacial baggage down to Malaysia.''