As they approach the most important stage of their season, Bailey's Bay's internal problems have still not been resolved.

And with former president Stephen Outerbridge -- who was acting as the mediator in the dispute -- now off the Island, there is some concern that the matter may not be resolved in time for this weekend's important fixture against joint league leaders Southampton Rangers.

Chairman of selectors, Nolan Walker, was adopting a wait-and-see approach to the dispute, which centres on team selection and involves about seven members of the team, most of whom did not play in the team's last match against Devonshire Rec.

Those missing included Ricky Hill, Corey Hill, Irving Burgess, Glenn Blakeney, Dennis Pilgrim and Damon Edwards, while two of the original seven -- Dennis Trott and Roderick Masters -- played in the last match. That team was built around the experience of captain Charlie Marshall and bowlers Clarkie Trott and Anthony Braithwaite as Marshall hit his fifth century of the season to lead them to victory.

The discontent within the team surfaced during the Camel Cup final three weeks ago when, just prior to the start, players strongly objected to wicketkeeper Jason Anderson's inclusion ahead of bowler Dennis Pilgrim. The result was a first defeat of the season as Bay were dismissed for just 61 while chasing 127 for victory.

The next day Bay went down to Police in the league and they go into another key match this weekend knowing that another defeat will derail their hopes of retaining their league title.

"There have been meetings with the guys but it still hasn't been resolved,'' a concerned Walker admitted yesterday.

"The players still have some concerns and they have been meeting with former president Stephen Outerbridge, who is acting as mediator, but he is now off the Island.'' With no further meetings planned, training this week would determine just how strongly the rebellious players feel about the situation.

"A lot depends on who comes out training, that's correct,'' Walker conceded.

"It's going to have some effect -- you can't lose seven players and there be no effect.'' Walker admits to not knowing exactly what the concerns are, though it appears to stem from the fact that with such a big and strong squad, some players are not happy with the playing time they are getting.

"I don't know what it is, but it does make you wonder whether that is the real issue,'' said the chairman, acknowledging that keeping so many players happy is not an easy task.

"Up to the final against St. George's we used something like 21 players.

We've tried to play as many players as possible.

"One or two players have only played one game, and that's because we haven't seen much of them. But every other player has played a minimum of three games.'' While Bay blew a good opportunity to win the Camel Cup, they are still in the running for league and Knockout Cup honours. Seen as the biggest threat to St.

David's in the Eastern Counties, the club know the matter has to be resolved before their August 28 visit to Lord's for the final.

"It's obviously going to have some effect and we want to resolve it as soon as possible,'' said Walker.

"We've got a lot of players but you just can't replace some of the players connected with this and still expect to win major championships. We've got sufficient players that cricket will go on at Bay.'' Added Walker: "We've got a real stiff part of the season in front of us and with all of the players intact we feel we can finish the season on a very high note.

"But we have to get to the bottom of this and it doesn't look as though we're going to get to the bottom before we come across a lot of these critical matches.

"The bottom line is the club and the selectors don't have a problem with the players. It would appear that they (players) have a problem.'' The annual Mini Cup Match for Government Summer day Camp youngsters wil lbe held at St. John's Field tomorrow starting at 10.00 a.m. St. George's are the defending champions.

On the attack: Bailey's Bay skipper Charlie Marshall (above) has been in fine form this season, but a group of Bay players could disrupt their title challenge in a row over team selection.