Dear Sir,

I read with great fascination the Sports Mailbox write-off between "Passionate Cricket Lover" and Irving Romaine, the Bermuda cricket captain, and could not separate them after 12 rounds. So I decided, after great deliberation, to tap my toe into the muddied waters.

First, I must say that whoever Passionate Cricket Lover is, he or she should come over here to challenge Phil "The Power" Taylor because most, if not all, of the darts aimed in the direction of Romaine metaphorically must have went in on doubles for him to defy a Bermuda Cricket Board "gag order", in his own words, and counter-attack all the way from Australia with a lengthy written riposte.

I feel obliged to contribute because this appears to be the first captaincy debate of "good versus evil" since the mid to late-Nineties when Clay Smith was being put up as the alternative to Albert Steede. No prizes for guessing whom the BCB of the day labelled with the "evil" tag. (I know folks are easily offended over there, so please don't take these terms literally; they are meant for effect!)

Thankfully, in that regard, all was well that ended well and now, at the backend of 2008, we have Lionel Cann, the St George's Cup Match and St David's captain, pitched up against Irving Romaine, who captains no one other than his country. On the face of it, you would think that it is no-contest, but for Romaine having been in the job for the best part of three years and, barring what has admittedly been a miserable 2008, serving with distinction.

Yes, we are in the results business and some of Bermuda's performances have made for difficult reading, but it is clear to me that this is a team in transition after the retirements and other departures in the wake of the World Cup in the West Indies.

Romaine's demeanour in the face of such reversals can be off-putting, but most who have come across him must know that "that smile" rarely leaves his face —- in good or bad times. Whether that is the proper image to portray after a right wallopping or piss-poor effort is for someone else to judge, but I can assure Passionate Cricket Lover that it is not the face of someone who does not care. He cares plenty, but is infused with what I used to call laughing sickness, which allows him to come across as happy go lucky.

Romaine was picked out as a future Bermuda captain some time ago but because of the queue of viable candidates in front of him —- Steede, Smith, Charlie Marshall (Is he still around? I need some of his pills) and latterly, Janeiro Tucker —- it was not to be imagined that he would get the position when he did.

Cann, on the other hand, few would have viewed him as a leader of men by the time I left the country in 2000. Very likeable, yes, but natural born leader, I don't think so. Although I am happy to amend that view, having chatted briefly with Cann in May on my first visit home for six years, there is far too much water under the BCB bridge for him to be entrusted with the Bermuda captaincy. Unfortunately, he has a rap sheet as long as my arm and, at the end of the day, there can be only one Charlie Marshall. "One Charlie Marshall, there's only one Charlie Marshall" . That has a nice ring to it – anyway, back to Romaine versus Cann.

I see that Lionel is in the squad for the Americas Cup defence and his priority should be to re-establish himself as a Bermuda player before entertaining the idea of reversing several years of hurt so that opinions of him at BCB level are softened. From what I see of the chosen squad, he may struggle to command a place in the first XI and any prospective captain should be worth his place in the team on merit. He has always been a hit-and-miss batsman, but what I regret most is that he appears to have done away with his bowling. As a batsman alone, and not entrusted to figure in the top six, Cann can be no more than a squad player. If only the commitment and focus he showed at Cup Match could be replicated. If only.

So we're back where we started —- with Romaine. But after his missive from Down Under, the Bermuda captain has some considerable housecleaning to do. By highlighting the failures of those around him, he effectively outed some of those who will be expected to follow his lead in Florida this month. The only place for a captain to make such comment is in the dressing-room, not in public. (Strike up one for the BCB gag-order merchants)

He should have stopped at his noble apology for not scoring a first-class century in 2008. Now, I'm afraid he has to make at least another one.

Yours in Sport,

Dexter Smith

London, England