delayed.

But putting the opening day back to Sunday, May 3, is in the best interests of the clubs, players, fans and the sport itself, Bermuda Cricket Board of Control president Elvin James insists.

Careful consideration, says James, has been given to the time needed for the preparation of wickets between the end of the soccer season and the start of cricket. The clubs, he said, simply need more time to produce quality wickets.

A year ago the poor condition of several club fields, brought on by heavy activity during the soccer season, forced a similar decision by the BCBC when they delayed the season's start by a week -- pushing back the first matches to April 27.

This time, though, James has taken into account the severe beating most fields suffered during a winter of heavy rain. James believes the delay will not cause any major inconvenience, pointing out there is no hurry for the season to get underway, with no incoming tours planned this year.

"In years gone by the wickets have not been adequately prepared between the sports of soccer and cricket, so we have had to be satisfied with playing on mediocre wickets, or there has been the necessity to play on some concrete wickets for the first couple of weeks,'' he said.

"This year we are going to give the field operators plenty of time to get their wickets and grounds ready. With no tours scheduled, we are by no means going to create any problems by putting the start back.'' Test matches in the Caribbean often deplete the squads of many teams as a number of players travel to watch the matches and James said the delay would also give those players ample time to return and prepare for the new season.

One club who will benefit are Police, who leave for Barbados on April 16 to compete in the International Police Cricket Festival, a competition which will last for two weeks.

"We look at this as being an organised, calculated approach that allows everybody enough time to get their act together,'' said James.

Meanwhile, James said he could not divulge news about the structure of play this season, explaining that whatever decision was made had to be presented to the clubs first at the Board's annual general meeting later this month.

However, word is that the BCBC will continue to operate under the same format as last year with both open and limited overs matches in two separate leagues.

Much emphasis will be on junior cricket this season, specifically an under-13 programme which will be known as the Shell Youth League and an under-16 league. Full details of the junior plans are expected to be unveiled this week.