Victory is indeed sweet and trophies certainly add glamour. But Bailey's Bay captain Corey Hill is viewing a much larger picture as he leads his club into the new cricket season.

Having suffered two major losses in the off season, with the departure of Charlie Marshall to eastern rivals St. George's and premier pace bowler Clarkie Trott, who has retired, Hill admits to Bay being in something of a rebuilding stage.

And while the first year skipper still believes his team to be of the quality to stand up against opposition the Island over, success will not be found solely among the won/loss column, but in the lives of those in the Bay community.

"Success for Bailey's Bay in my eyes would be keeping the youngsters that I have at the club now interested in playing cricket for the rest of their lives. Trophies and games won will come with that,'' said Hill, adding that a great effort was needed from everyone to achieve such success.

"Of course we need the backing of our executive committee at the club, the backing of the community as a whole, that of the Government officials in our constituency, there's a whole heap of factors that will effect any success we do have.

"To me there's much more to being captain of a cricket team than winning games, because we have so many other issues that we need to worry about, and this is just one avenue to help us get our communities back to the way they were.

"Most of the guys that you see as you roll through Hamilton Parish or Bailey's Bay, that are sitting on the wall or what have you, most of those guys are now looking to play cricket. And I want to provide an avenue for them to do that, and even though they may not now be of the standard they're out doing something constructive and positive and that's the most important thing.

"It's not going to happen overnight and everyone has to be patient, from the players, community, the country, and that's my main focus. I would like to look back in five or 10 years and say `I remember taking that kid off the wall and look at him now, playing Cup Match or County Cup or he's abroad in school or what have you'.'' Hill though is not ignorant to the fickle nature of Bay fans, who demand results and are not shy about voicing opinions if things are not going their way.

Bay's sixth place finish last season and failure to wrest back the Eastern Counties Cup -- or any cup for that matter -- did not sit well, and it could be that Hill may find more than a few bumps in the road.

"I'm sure we're going to have our ups and downs -- hopefully more ups than downs -- and I just hope they stick behind us, because we are trying to rebuild something here that has been slightly damaged over the past few years,'' said Hill. "We've had a couple of senior players transfer to other teams and that's their choice .. . the game goes on. But even though we've lost some quality players over the seasons we can still hold our own.

"Still, first I have to make sure that my team's happy. I feel as though, if my team's happy that will filter through my community. Because the team is built from individuals within the community, so once the team is happy, I'm hoping that will filter through to our fans, and they just have to be patient.'' While Hill stands out as the lynchpin for Bay, he has some able veterans to lean upon as well, with brother Ricky, Cal Dill, Dennis Pilgrim and coach Noel Gibbons all experienced campaigners.

High hopper: Ricky Hill of Bailey's Bay, seen taking a bouncer on the chest during last season's abandoned KO Cup semi-final against Southampton Rangers, is set to do battle with Rangers and Clevie Wade (left) again today when the match is replayed. The final against Western Stars is at Sea Breeze Oval tomorrow.