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Clay's last hurrah

By James Whittaker
Will Clay Smith bow out in style as he predicted in today's Bermuda Sun?
Or will the living legend suffer the 'cruel' fate predicted for him by Royal Gazette letter writer and Somerset fan George 'Recman' Holdipp and bow out with a 'golden pair'.
Clay admits he is still suffering with his knee, he has hardly played this year and he is carrying a bit more timber than he was at his peak.
But St. George's skipper Lionel Cann reckons, 'a 30 per cent fit Clay Smith would be better than anything Somerset's got'.
And Smith himself said: "When it comes to Cup Match Clay Smith will step up to the plate and produce the goods."
Only the weekend will tell, but Clay's a great guy and a truly talented cricketer and it would be nice to see him go out with another century.

Who has the stronger Cup Match squad?

By James Whittaker
These are the Cup Match squads for 2008:

Somerset: Jacobi Robinson, Hasan Durham, Janeiro Tucker, Ricardo Brangman, Sammy Robinson, Malachi Jones, Jordan De Silva, Azeem Pitcher, Dion Stovell, Del Hollis, Chris Douglas
St George's: Lionel Cann, Charlie Marshall, Clay Smith, Glenn Blakeney, Fiqre Crockwell, Arthur Pitcher, Jason Anderson, Delyone Bordern, Greg Foggo, Ryan Steede, Tre Govia

Not too many shocks but a few interesting selections. St George's pulled the biggest surprise by including 15-year-old leg-spinner Tre Govia — opting for youth and promise over the experience and proven track record of David 'chick' Adams. The decision looks pretty baffling when you look at their relative stats for the season and their performances in the final trial game on Saturday (Govia 1 for 100, Adams 2 for 50). But St George's have picked a very experienced team and probably figured they needed some young blood in their line-up.
The batting in the east still looks strong — even without OJ Pitcher and Chris Foggo. The return of Glenn Blakeney and the form of Charlie Marshall mean they have a very strong middle order. It's their bowling department that has suffered the most.
In the absence of George O'Brien, Stefan Kelly and Rodney Trott there is an awful lot of pressure on St George's senior bowlers Greg Foggo, Ryan Steede and Delyone Borden.
When you look at the explosive batting in Somerset's line-up — Janeiro Tucker, Dion Stovell, Chris Douglas — they have a lot of work to do.
Writing in the Bermuda Sun last week St George's skipper Lionel Cann said he thought that if Somerset didn't win this year, they wouldn't win it for a decade.
That might have been a bit optimistic in terms of the long-term analysis but he was spot-on about one thing.
This is a big chance for Somerset to win back the cup.
The groundstaff have promised a result pitch but I still think the biggest question for Somerset is whether, in the absence of Kevin Hurdle, they have the firepower to take 20 wickets in two days.
It's going to be a close run thing, but looking at the two sides my money would be on the challengers this time.

Saying goodbye to a friend

By Don Burgess
Mike Preece was laid to rest on Saturday afternoon.
For those of you who didn't know Mike, you truly missed out on one of Bermuda's legends. I met him in 1994 when I returned to Bermuda down at the Bernard Park ball diamond (now renamed in his honour). Mike was always busy, always working. He was proud of how immaculate the softball field was kept. He worked tirelessly on it and other projects for the Department of Youth and Sport. Mike was definitely a 'can do' guy. It didn't matter what needed to be done or when it needed to be done, Mike was the man for the job. James Brown may have been the hardest working man in show business, but Mike was the hardest working man in Bermuda. It seemed like he was always on the job doing something.
On Friday night I stopped in to Augustus Funeral Home to pay my respects and he looked so peaceful. He was finally getting the rest he deserved.
Sleep well my friend, sleep well.

Summer snooze fest

By James Whittaker
Normally the EPL summer transfer rush is just as interesting as the season itself.
But this year it's just been one big snooze-fest. How many more stories can we read about Ronaldo flirting with Real Madrid.
The Portuguese winger has kept the papers in back page 'scoops' all summer and he'll probably still start next season at Old Trafford.
In terms of 'real' signings there has been nothing too much to get excited about.
Croatian play-maker Luka Modric could have an impact at Tottenham and it will be interesting to see how Portuguese midfielder Deco goes at Chelsea.
It seems like Berbatov will finally move to Manchester United and Robbie Keane will go to Liverpool, but other than that it's pretty much as you were in the Premier League.
Talk of players like Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto, Karim Benzema and Robinho coming to the Premiership seems to be just that — talk. It looks to me like it will be the same old story. United to win the title, Chelsea second, Arsenal and Liverpool fighting for third and the rest of the pack feeding off the scraps.

Too much football?

Are people - and players - getting burned out from having too much football? Amongst the local BFA leagues, the Island Soccer League, the Bermuda Hogges and a slew of international matches, has football reached a saturation point?
The last international match against Trinidad drew a sell-out crowd, but many games before that only had crowds of 500 to 800 people. There's hardly enough fans to fill up one seating section for the most recent ISL and Hogges' games.
Added to this, the BFA will be starting a beach football league for August and the first part of September.
If you love football, it's like sex, you can't get enough of it; but for the casual fan has burnout set in?

Cup Match on the sofa

By Don Burgess

If the clubs want fans to go to Somerset for Cup Match this year they may have misjudged things by deciding to screen the full game live on TV.
I, for one, am not going up to the west end in the middle of a baking heat filled day when I can sit on my sofa in a pair of boxers and a t-shirt, enjoying the comforts of air conditioning, cold soda and cheap snacks. Sure I'll miss the Crown and Anchor, the colourful fashions and the big-game atmosphere, but at least I won't have to drive to the west end and swelter in the heat.
But then again, maybe I'm just lazy.

Where was the national pride?

By James Whittaker
Bermuda's first home game in four years this weekend — an enthralling four-day match that included the first international hundred for Stephen Outerbridge against a bowling attack of genuine quality — attracted just a few hundred people.
On Saturday and Sunday there were less than 100 in the stadium. Apparantly the attendance at a thoroughly one-sided Western County match between Southampton Rangers and PHC was around 500.
Tradition is a strong and important part of Bermuda cricket, but what kind of message does that send to the players? That fans value and support local cricket above their national team.
No wonder many of the players, who have made themselves ineligible for national duty, feel the same way.

Stick with the young guns

By James Whittaker
Stephen Outerbridge scored his maiden international hundred this weekend as Bermuda fought back well against Scotland, before succumbing to a 107 run loss.
No doubt some of the usual critics will make the usual calls for more experienced players like Glenn Blakeney and Charlie Marshall to be restored to the team. But, while I agree the squad should be selected on merit rather than age, the perseverance the selectors have shown with Outerbridge demonstrates the wisdom of going with youth.
It takes a long time to acclimatise at this level - both mentally and technically. Outerbridge is clearly one of the most talented players in Bermuda. His timing is impeccable, his footwork is great and he has all the ingredients of a top class cricketer.
But even he took four years and several tours for a break-through hundred.
That's why it is well worth sticking with youngsters like Oronde Bascome, Chris Foggo, OJ Pitcher, Jekon Edness and Rodney Trott, even if it takes them a couple of years to get to grips with this level of cricket.
All have shown signs that they have the ability to play at this level and the runs and wickets will come with experience. And when they do make the breakthrough to the next level, as Outerbridge did this weekend, they will still have the best part of their careers ahead of them.
Outerbridge has shown that both for the selectors and the players perseverance will be rewarded.

Olympic row

Don Burgess
One has to feel for Jillian Terceira. If she was representing Bermuda in any other sport and had qualified for the Olympics, she'd be in Beijing. Unfortunately for her - and Bermuda - she qualified in show jumping, which meant that either she or Patrick Nisbett would be sitting on the sidelines come August. This Olympic row has come about because Bermuda can only have on representative and the Bermuda Equestrian Federation selected Nisbett. Only one of the three jump offs between Nisbett's Antille 8 and Terceira's Navantus took place with Nisbett winning four faults to eight.
Supporters have made claims as why their rider is superior and deserve to be going to the Games. All in all it's an unfortunate situation for Bermuda.

Victory at last!

By James Whittaker
Dwayne Leverock was back to his brilliant best, mesmerising the Canadians with a ten-wicket haul as Bermuda won their first match of the Intercontinental campaign today.
After four straight defeats in the four-day competition the margin of victory was, in the end, fairly comfortable, with Leverock and Rodney Trott combining to bowl Canada out for 151 in the second innings, giving them a 106 run win.
But it took all the character, guts and resolve that Bermuda could muster to win this match. The catalyst for the victory was an innings of true grit from skipper Irving Romaine who ground out a painstaking 84 from 276 balls to give his spinners a target to bowl at.
It's great to see Bermuda back to winning ways and even more encouraging to see them win by displaying the qualities that have been so evidently lacking in recent tours — hard work, patience, athleticism in the field and sheer will to win.
Here's a quote you wouldn't have dreamed of reading about Bermuda 12 months ago, from the Cricket Europe match report:

"The biggest factor in this game, however, was the fielding and fitness of the Bermuda players. They consistently cut off runs with their fielding and didn’t drop many of the chances Canada provided them. Aggressive field setting from Irving Romaine meant that Canadian batsmen were often greeted by five men around the bat just waiting for the slightest mistake. Chris Foggo was the best of the bunch, spending his whole day at bat pad – taking some abuse from the batsmen – but making life miserable for them as well."

Long may it continue.