Dear Sir,

I must say our national cricket team selectors have really outdone themselves this time. The training squad they have chosen is quite simply awesome.

Aside from Lionel Cann and Malachi Jones, who have ruled themselves out as well as talented all-rounder Chris Douglas, I cannot think of too many other players who deserve to be included.

I was especially happy to see Glenn Blakeney, Dion Stovell, Oronde Bascome, George O'Brien and Jacobi Robinson return to the fold.

One can only hope that all of those selected will take advantage of the opportunity and work hard to make the final 15.

On Sunday I caught the second half of the Cleveland versus St. David's match, which turned out to be very entertaining. Chasing 244 to win, Cleveland looked done for at 70 for five with very little batting left in the pavilion. When former Bermuda skipper Clay Smith strode, or should I say limped, to the wicket to join Cleveland County stalwart Carlton (Pluke) Smith, quite honestly I made up my mind that once one of them was out, I would be on my way.

The two veterans put together a fantastic partnership worth 143 runs. Pluke with a mixture of solid defence and attacking shots made a majestic 79, punctuated with several blistering cuts off the bowling of St.David's off- spinner Delyone Borden, while Clay, despite being a bit on the heavy side and having a 'wonky' knee, made a watchful half-century.

As I watched Clay, I thought to myself who will fill his shoes in the Bermuda national team. Who will be our next great player?

'Great' is not a word I use lightly. I consider a player's performances at all levels, both domestic and international. Take for instance Clay. At domestic level he has excelled at all of the competitions he has played in, including Cup Match, becoming the first batsman in the classic to make three centuries.

At international level he has scored centuries in the ICC Trophy, Intercontinental Cup, as well as the Red Stripe Bowl.

Janeiro Tucker is in my estimation our other great still playing. He has scored centuries in Cup Match, Intercontinental Cup and the ICC, and who can forget that magnificent century that took Bermuda to their first World Cup. These are the things legends are made of.

Currently there are several youngsters around who have the talent to reach these heights if they dedicate themselves.

I think of cricketers such as Malachi Jones, OJ Pitcher, Chris Foggo, Rodney Trott, Dion Stovell, Orande Bascome, George O'Brien, Stefan Kelly and Chris Douglas among others

The important thing is that they have plenty of domestic and international matches to establish themselves. I guess only time will tell.

Finally, I must give 'props' to Bailey's Bay for upgrading their field. I must also thank Minister Derek Burgess for the assistance he is providing the club. The potential that Sea Breeze has is enormous and it certainly won't hurt our cricket to have another first class cricket facility on the Island.

RECMAN

Dear Sir,

The May 24 race on the 26th is just about here and I wish to add to the publicity provided by the media.

There have been changes in some of the race areas, starting last year and continuing this year.

The victory celebration is back to the Leopards Club after a year at the Victor Scott School. Glad this part of history has returned.

There are some big prizes being offered this year. Did I hear $2,000 for the first newcomer on HOTT 1075? What's the winner getting then?

There will be new electronic timing for the first time this year. Hello high tech.

The Marathon Derby committee have their own website now and the entry cut-off time was extended this year. Now the mile positions need rechecking.

It's good that the committee have listened and acted.

More radio interviews are needed on this most spectacular race, like a Talking Sport show before Monday.

This race sells itself. Still, it never hurts having a variety of pre-race stories in the newspapers. The cut-outs I'm saving are making a scrap book.

The stories could be collectors' items, history. The stories for the race on our regular group of six best male runners comprising of Jay (Donawa), Terence (Armstrong), Lamont (Marshall), Kavin (Smith) and Larry (Marshall), including the fastest newcomer we've had in many years, Chris Estwanik, are ongoing. The race stories this year for our best female runners Ashley (Estwanik), Victoria (Fiddick), Dawn (Richardson) and Karen (Bordage) have been less.

Last year the pre-race excitement was about Lamont Marshall, and the criticism the great Jay Donawa took from the 2006 race. (He did silence those hard-to-please-people in 2007). The actual race excitement was Larry Marshall, who ran a great, strategic last five miles to win.

Questions were asked, like did Lamont hold back while his brother broke away to psych the others? Was that team-work?

What about 2008? Could Chris Estwanik and wife Ashley's quality runs over the shorter distances this year extend to the half-marathon? They're fast and experienced competitors for sure. Have they trained to win a 13.1 mile race?

Did the other top male and female runners step up their training programme to do a PR, or step it up as runners such as Chris and Ashley are running? Preparation, belief, confidence, and as Larry showed last year, the element of surprise are all keys to victory.

I wish all the competitors a great, safe run and thanks to all the sponsors, volunteers, St. John's, police, spectators and organisers.

ROGER LAMBERT