With the national cricket team recently failing to qualify for the World Cup, I have decided to put together my very own Bermuda Dream XI.

By no means was this an easy task as we have had an abundance of talent over the years . . . if only we could take the quality from different eras and combine them, wow what a team we would have!

Winston Reid, David Hemp, Clay Smith, Charlie Marshall, Noel Gibbons, Janeiro Tucker, Dean Minors, El James, Clarence Parfitt, Winston (Coe) Trott, Anthony (Pacer) Edwards. Reserves: Gladstone (Sad) Brown, Colin Blades, Terry Burgess, Dwayne Leverock, Allen Douglas.

I strongly believe that this Dream Team would have been capable of beating any team that was in our region for the World Cup Qualifiers. The most difficult task about choosing these players was deciding who would open the batting with Winston Reid.

While Reid and Brown have been Bermuda's best international opening partnership, David Hemp's assertion at the recent qualifiers made him a clear-cut selection.

Coming in at number three and number four would be Clay and Charlie. This for me was probably the easiest two spots to fill as the two of us have produced some of the biggest partnerships Bermuda have seen in the ICC competition.

On top of that, Charlie's ability as a fielder back then was sensational, tailor-made for the one-day game.

Another tough selection was choosing the all-rounders. Bermuda over the years have had the benefit of having quite a few great all-rounders. To choose between Noel Gibbons, Janeiro Tucker and Colin Blades was extremely tough.

However, I chose Noel simply because I rate him as Bermuda best all-rounder ever, and Janeiro Tucker because he held the record score of 138 which secured Bermuda's place in their first ever Cricket World Cup.

The wicketkeeping department basically picked itself. Dean Minors and Allen Douglas were two of the finest keepers Bermuda have ever seen. Dean in my eyes has the edge only because I think he was far more reliable with the bat than Allen and had the game to adjust to any situation.

The spin bowling department was the easiest of choices as Clarence Parfitt and Dwayne Leverock have basically established themselves as the best two spinners Bermuda have ever produced.

However, I had to choose Parfitt in the starting team as he is a legend in Bermuda cricket and rated by many as the best bowler Bermuda have ever produced.

Due to Leverock's stats there could also be an argument to use Parfitt's variety with the ball and open the bowling with him and slip Sluggo in as the spinner – definitely an option.

The next category was probably the second toughest to choose and that was the fast bowling department. Bermuda has had several great fast bowlers but what made the difference for me was who was able to produce under pressure.

Firstly, El James was intimidating with the ball but his ability to bat was also a major bonus. Winston (Coe) Trott was the thinker of the bowlers. He was Mr. Consistent with the ball, so you always knew he would show up on the big day.

Then there's Anthony (Pacer) Edwards who still holds the record for the most wickets in a single ICC tournament.

His aggression and passion was what made him a match-winner. Having to decide between Terry Burgess and Adrian King was tough.

While King was my favourite bowler, I witnessed first hand Burgess at his best and together he and Edwards destroyed many top order bats and that is why I went with Burgess as my back-up opening bowler.

The sad part of picking a Dream Team XI is that you will always leave out some great cricketers.

When you think of players such as Clevie Wade, Lionel Thomas, Arnold Manders, Albert Steede, Wendell Smith, John Tucker, Lionel Cann just to name a few. It shows you that over the years Bermuda has had a rich tradition of producing great cricketers.

Unfortunately, we have only once been to the Cricket World Cup, but with the Cricket Board currently producing one of the finest youth programmes in our region, Bermuda should see many more quality players coming through their ranks in the near future.

Again this was not an easy task selecting from all of the great cricketers in Bermuda, but I encourage and challenge my readers to come up with a better 15 players than the dream team that I have produced.

PS On a sadder note it would be remise of me if I didn't say to our fellow umpire Roger Dill that we, the national team, were extremely sorry you could not represent Bermuda in South Africa.

Something in Bermuda really needs to be done about situations like this. Before it was the players not being able to get off from work, but now it's an umpire. With senior umpires retiring around the world who knows what doors could have opened for umpire Dill on the world stage. I just hope this does not hinder him from advancing up the ladder as it is no secret umpire Dill is one of the best in the world.