Nationals have again dropped out of the BCBC League, just three years after returning and two years after finishing in second place.

And Hamilton Parish, who sat out the last couple of seasons, will make a return for the 1997 campaign, which begins on April 19.

Nationals' decision to withdraw comes as no surprise as they had internal problems last season and almost failed to complete the season under captain Bruce Perinchief. The team were to have been relegated in the Open League of the Premier Division while they avoided the drop in the Overs competition.

The decision will no doubt come as a disappointment for Nationals members, who had reason to expect the programme to flourish after going from 14th in the league in their first season back in 1994 to second the following year when they qualified for the Camel Cup.

"It's a fair investment for the club but if the season is successful then it's worth it,'' said president Jimmy DeCouto yesterday.

He said no attempts were made to sort out last season's problems which included a dispute between Perinchief and some senior players who felt he was not committed enough to the programme.

"No one wanted to get things going so it faded itself out,'' said the president.

"We left it up to them (members) to decide if they wanted to have a team or not but it never materialised. We had quite a few problems last year. I'm very disappointed because we've got all the equipment and facilities.'' DeCouto didn't rule out the club making another attempt in the future to rebuild the cricket programme. "It's up to the members, it just moves in cycles,'' he added.

DeCouto confirmed that Social Club would use the ground as their home field and that the Bermuda Under-19 team would be training there. It is also planned to stage some matches in this year's International Youth Tournament at the Nationals ground.

In the likes of Darrin Lewis, Jason Lewis, Mark Ray, John Ray and Bruce Perinchief, as well as some English players, Nationals had the basis of a good team, as was seen in 1995.

However, things started to change a year ago when captain Neil Speight, instrumental in getting the team back in the league, was ousted as captain despite gaining the support of the players in two votes for the captaincy.

"They had a vote for the captaincy and I won but I was told there was not enough players there so they redid the vote and I won it again,'' recalled Speight, who was recently returned as treasurer of Bermuda Cricket Board of Control.

"The second time Bruce ran against me and I won again but the committee decided there should be another vote later in the year in April.'' Speight said he made a presentation to the club showing what he had done and where the club could go but eventually decided to move on, joining Flatts last season.

"I didn't want to continue if the players didn't want me,'' said Speight.

"It was two years of hard work gone to waste. To see it fall so quickly is a disappointment. I felt I achieved something at Nationals.'' Nationals quit league From Page 11 Two of the players who joined Nationals from Hamilton Parish, Quinn Outerbridge and Dennis Trott, are planning to return to their former club.

The season will begin just a week after the final of the ICC Trophy in Malaysia, with Overs matches on Saturday, April 19.

Southampton Rangers and Devonshire Rec. were promoted from the First Division, replacing St. David's and Nationals. Cleveland, who finished in the second relegation spot, earned a reprieve.

In the Open League, Cleveland went down with Nationals while Rangers and PHC replaced them.

The youth tournament will dominate the early part of July with matches being held at various grounds throughout the Island from Sunday, July 6 to Sunday, July 13. Seven teams -- Bermuda, England, Holland, Scotland, Denmark, Canada and Ireland -- will participate.