applauded her decision to intervene.

But the former cricket official and present member of the BCUA insisted that Government should go a step further by acting as a mediator to ensure that this dispute is settled quickly so that there is no further interference that could affect the start of the season which is just a week away.

"Government needs to get more involved, more is needed for them just to encourage the board to take positive steps and settle the matter. They must help to get somebody to act as a mediator so that this mess can be cleared up once and for all,'' said Richardson.

It was on Monday that Youth and Sports Director Brenton Roberts spoke with BCBC president Ed Bailey on the matter, shortly after reading the article in the Royal Gazette where it was stated that the board would be supporting the new Bermuda Cricket Umpires Union. But yesterday Minister Gordon made it clear that the board's actions were unconstitutional.

Richardson was yesterday still angry over the board's decision to sanction the new group and noticeably upset with Bailey's remarks that the BCUA was not acting in the "best interest of the sport.'' "There is no way that the BCUA will lie dead and fold or disband, no way,'' promised Richardson. "What right does the board have to do what they did? I was very unhappy to hear that they gave sanction for this new group.

"If the BCUA has not been acting in the best interest of the sport then neither has the board,'' Richardson added.

According to Richardson, the board were guilty of so many failures. Among the most chronic was their continued failure to run a "cohesive domestic programme'' for the youth, their failure to run a Reserve or Second Division league and their inability to attract sponsorship. "I can go on and on about their failures,'' he conceded.

"What worries me mostly about local cricket, though, is the lack of a junior programme for the last three seasons and it's clearly the fault of the board.

I hope Goverment can also look into this as they give assistance in sorting out the present dispute,'' said Richardson.

"I've said it before and I've said it again, junior cricket has been hurting since Shell pulled out three years ago because of difficulties they had with the board.'' Richardson pointed out that the fact that the BCUA had made changes among their executive committee, which included Dennis Raynor replacing Randy Butler as president, showed that they were willing to compromise. He said the board should have allowed suitable time to see if the two groups could get along a little better with new president Raynor.

"A little time was needed for them to gel so that there could be a better working relationship between the two groups who run our cricket. There was no need for the board to move with haste,'' said Richardson.

ED BAILEY -- The BCBC president has been hold by the Department of Youth and Sports to solve latest problems