The Bermuda national team awaits a decision on who will be their next coach. With much speculation going on now that Gus Logie's tenure has ended, the players and Bermuda cricket fans wait patiently.

How soon will the decision be made, no one knows. One thing we are all hoping or anticipating is that the next coach will be of the same or even higher quality (as Logie). The prerequisites demand a first class coach with a Level Three coaching certificate or higher.

In the past we have had some coaches who arrived from the "cream of the crop". My favourite of all time was Australian Bob Simpson, better known to the players as "Simmo".

Why is the election of the national team coach important?

Well in Bermuda it is extremely important who the Bermuda Cricket Board pick because the successful candidate must first be able to immediately grab the players' attention and respect.

Our current day players could not handle a snobbish coach who comes in and says it is 'my way or the highway' because many of them would take the highway. This is unfortunate, but in Bermuda unlike in the West Indies, players do not see cricket as an avenue for a lucrative future.

From a coach's standpoint, all are unique and have their own style.

What you do find is that coaches from country to country vary in styles and philosophies.

Right now, truthfully, if Bermuda is looking to move forward they must find a coach from England, South Africa or Australia. These are the only places I would consider if I was on the Cricket Board.

Why one may ask? Simple! Bermuda players need someone stern with a no nonsense approach to discipline, but with traits that the players can relate to.

In my opinion, I find West Indies coaches know more about our culture, which is a big bonus, but they can sometimes be too reserved and not as authoritative as the others.

Looking at the three countries I chose, let's briefly look at our past coaches from those respective countries and see how they managed while in Bermuda.

First, the English coach Roland Butcher. His stint was very short but while he was here he was very professional with his approach. He made and held players accountable for being on time for training, so much so he even put a "fines" policy in place to eliminate poor time management by players.

His training regime was impressive with an emphasis on fitness and teamwork. It is unfortunate he could not stay and work with us for a longer period because he had the players' respect and players were willing to work hard for him.

Second, we have Australian Bob Simpson, the legend. His coaching methods were amazing to say the least.

He was the most complete coach I have ever come across. There was not an aspect of the game that he did not try to improve.

Training sessions were fun, but intense. Sessions were purpose driven with a specific goal in mind.

Fitness and fielding were a high priority of his. More importantly, he made his players feel appreciated and respected, which made you want to work hard for him and your country. His bubbly personality was just an added bonus and allowed players to feel comfortable approaching him about anything.

Third, there is Daryll Cullinan, the South African coach who came to Bermuda and mesmerised the players immediately. There has not been a coach yet who has had make an opening speech like his.

He emphasised hard work, time management, national pride, thus highlighting 'do not waste his time'. His coaching style was different again as he focused on improving fielding, incorporating a lot of theory so that players understood the finer points of the one-day game.

He also implemented one-on-one coaching, but out in the middle, not in the nets like most coaches. It was Daryll who taught me how to attack left hand spinners, whereas before I would just look to pinch a single here and there. Daryll was an awesome coach, but he was all business.

Now that you have had a brief look at Bermuda's past coaches you can clearly see that all three of them were more than adequate. The one major problem all of them had was that they were only in Bermuda for a short period of time.

Personally, I feel Bermuda needs an Australian coach to come in with his professionalism, to go along with his canny ways.

Australia have been number one in world cricket for years. They have some of the best coaches in the world. If an Australian coach can come here and implement some of his training methods and thought processes to our players it would improve our cricket tremendously.

If you look at all of the new technology in the game of cricket, the majority of it started in Australia. Not only that, but most quality Australian coaches have been affiliated some way or another with the Australian Cricket Academy, which in the long run could be an outlet for our young cricketers.

More importantly, I think the players of Bermuda will respect an Australian coach more than any other coach in the world because of his background.

The one real important issue here is that the Bermuda Cricket Board has to be willing to work with the coach and give him as much support as possible.

They must respect his knowledge and adhere to the majority of if not all of his requests, as he is the professional and knows what it takes to get the job done. It does not make any sense bringing a top-notch coach here if we are going to dictate to him. He must have free reign to run the show.

Lastly, I urge and encourage the players of Bermuda to rekindle the passion for the game of cricket. The Bermuda Cricket Board could bring the best coach in the world here, but none of that will matter if the players do not do their part.