By James Whittaker
Interesting conspiracy theory from Clay Smith in the Royal Gazette today. Apparantly the ICC and CricInfo are to blame for Bermuda’s failure to qualify for the World Cup… Really? I can’t think of any possible format the ICC could have contrived where Bermuda would have qualified by finishing fifth in a six-team group. And the decision to make the final two places in the Intercontinental Cup discretionary can, at this stage, only work in Bermuda’s favour.
And what does it really matter what CricInfo say? They did seem to enjoy Bermuda’s demise a little too much and the $11million men tag has, perhaps unjustly, seen us pegged as the team with ‘all the gear and no idea’. But, like it or not, that is the impression a lot of the other teams, press and officials out there in South Africa had of Bermuda – as a team who had not made the most of the opportunities afforded them.
It’s a perception reinforced by coach Gus Logie, who cited poor attendance at a training session with the world’s top fielding coach Mike Young, as one example.
Clay also cites four or five players who did perform well - not just David Hemp. It’s a fair point and one that we made in the Bermuda Sun in our report on the tournament. But you need more than a handful of players at the top of their game to excel and as an observer (and a supporter) of Bermuda at this tournament it is impossible for me to escape the notion that the other teams were fitter and more focused than us.
At the end of the day it doesn’t matter what I, Will Luke or the Royal Gazette might have to say about Bermuda’s performances and approach. It matters even less what we have to say about Scotland (and CricInfo has criticized them as well, though not as vehemently). The real analysis has to come from within. And unless the national team leadership, including Clay Smith – who may well turn out to be the next coach of Bermuda — are brutally honest about what went wrong in South Africa, then nothing will change.
Interesting conspiracy theory from Clay Smith in the Royal Gazette today. Apparantly the ICC and CricInfo are to blame for Bermuda’s failure to qualify for the World Cup… Really? I can’t think of any possible format the ICC could have contrived where Bermuda would have qualified by finishing fifth in a six-team group. And the decision to make the final two places in the Intercontinental Cup discretionary can, at this stage, only work in Bermuda’s favour.
And what does it really matter what CricInfo say? They did seem to enjoy Bermuda’s demise a little too much and the $11million men tag has, perhaps unjustly, seen us pegged as the team with ‘all the gear and no idea’. But, like it or not, that is the impression a lot of the other teams, press and officials out there in South Africa had of Bermuda – as a team who had not made the most of the opportunities afforded them.
It’s a perception reinforced by coach Gus Logie, who cited poor attendance at a training session with the world’s top fielding coach Mike Young, as one example.
Clay also cites four or five players who did perform well - not just David Hemp. It’s a fair point and one that we made in the Bermuda Sun in our report on the tournament. But you need more than a handful of players at the top of their game to excel and as an observer (and a supporter) of Bermuda at this tournament it is impossible for me to escape the notion that the other teams were fitter and more focused than us.
At the end of the day it doesn’t matter what I, Will Luke or the Royal Gazette might have to say about Bermuda’s performances and approach. It matters even less what we have to say about Scotland (and CricInfo has criticized them as well, though not as vehemently). The real analysis has to come from within. And unless the national team leadership, including Clay Smith – who may well turn out to be the next coach of Bermuda — are brutally honest about what went wrong in South Africa, then nothing will change.
I don't think that Cricinfo were being as critical of Bermuda's actual performance so much as showing disdain for the lack of commitment,sense of entitlement, air of superiority and lack of discipline that continues to plague our national team. Scotland certainly underperformed but a number of Bermuda's team appear incable of the discipline required to make what is at best an average team successful at this level.
It is easy to blame the BCB but the clubs also have to take some responsibility for allowing bad behaviour amongst their players without repercussion.
Posted by: wildrover | April 24, 2009 at 04:51 PM
I think Clay Smith's article was just to offer a counter to what the Gazette was regurgitating from Cricinfo's writers. As Recman and others have pointed out, the Cricinfo staff have published nothing but negative articles about Bermuda cricket. They latched onto valid arguments such as the feelings of entitlement and lack of discipline and rolled with it over the past five years, taking every opportunity to lambaste the country as a whole. Looking at their Beyond The Test World blog section, there are more posts about Bermuda than any other country except the USA. More than Canada, Ireland, Scotland, Kenya. They're keen to talk about the country, no doubt.
What appears to be true is that the ICC have moved away from trying to expand the game globally as much as trying to cash in on the popularity of the game in established powers, namely India (who have underachieved internationally yet mave the most $$ power on tap). Hence the reduction in WC places on offer. Kenya was forced to requalify, for one, and the number of places for Associates was dropped from 6 to 4.
That said, Bermuda failed to qualify and it's up to Bermuda to try to reverse the current situation with the senior team's performances.
As wildrover suggests, some professionalism needs to escalate at the domestic as well as youth level to produce better teams at international level.
Posted by: Tryangle | April 28, 2009 at 11:32 AM
Keep an eye on this news:
http://www.cricketeurope4.net/DATABASE/ARTICLES2/articles/000055/005583.shtml
If Zimbabwe are placed in the InterContinental Cup, then either a spot for an Associate (UAE, likely) is lost or they'll expand to a ten team tourney (opening the door for Bermuda, perhaps) More likely the former, and I don't think there's any chance that Bermuda would be invited to play four-day cricket ahead of Namibia (who have a great record) or the UAE (who defeated Bermuda last time out).
Posted by: Tryangle | April 30, 2009 at 01:12 PM