Cricket in 1997 was all about changes... changes among champions in the major competitions, changes in administration after the ousting of Ed Bailey and his BCBC executive and changes in the philosophy of the new executive under president Elvin James.

However, some things remained the same, like yet another disappointing appearance at the ICC Trophy in Malaysia at the start of the year when Bermuda failed to advance past the preliminary round.

From one of the top teams in the competition during the 1980s, Bermuda had to settle this year for winning the Plate final.

But it was the alleged goings-on off the field that grabbed the headlines as some players were accused of smoking marijuana in a hotel room while there were other incidents involving players' conduct.

Veteran player Charlie Marshall was involved in an incident with coach Allan Douglas and was not chosen for either the Bermuda team for the India Test team's visit here in May or the Red Stripe Cup in October in Jamaica.

Marshall's Bailey's Bay team-mate Corey Hill had his conduct come into question in Malaysia and was handed a three-year ban for clashing with tour management which nearly resulted in him being sent back home. The all-rounder recently had the ban cut by one year.

A new Bermuda captain was also selected for the Caribbean tournament as Arnold Manders made a return to the post.

He replaced his Western Stars clubmate Albert Steede, but the Bermuda results didn't change as they again failed to win a match in their second year of participation in the premier one-day tournament in the West Indies.

This time they lost to Trinidad and Tobago, the Windwards and hosts Jamaica, though there were some bright moments, notably Clay Smith's two centuries against the Windwards and Jamaicans.

The performances capped an indifferent year for the St. George's captain who silenced those who criticised his leadership by winning back the Cup Match Trophy after losing it in Somerset in 1996. It was the first victory at St.

George's by the home team since 1969.

Shortly after the victory, Smith made it known he was about to move on to St.

David's -- for whom he is eligible to play in the Counties next season.

However, the player-coach position he was interested in went to Graham Fox, which sparked off another controversy.

While Smith was selective in his comments, Lionel Cann let it all hang out in a newspaper interview, calling his club officials a "bunch of jokers''. He was subsequently slapped with a one-year ban.

That suspension was cut in half on appeal as Cann apologised for his remarks.

Only the Central Counties competition returned the same champions from the previous year, following Police's defence of their title.

St. David's won back the Eastern Counties Cup from Bailey's Bay, against whom they lost in 1993 while the Western Counties title changed hands a couple of times.

Somerset Bridge started as champions before losing in the first round to Warwick in June -- which effectively ended their season as most of their players lost interest after that.

Warwick's reign lasted one match before they went down to Southampton Rangers in the second round. Rangers defended their title against both PHC and Willow Cuts.

Bailey's Bay claimed a third Camel Cup triumph in four years with victory over St. George's in the final, and they also helped themselves to the Open Championship, relieving Western Stars of one of their league titles from the previous season. Bay also won the Knockout title, beating Cleveland in the final.

The International Youth Tournament returned to Bermuda for the first time since 1985 when Darrin Lewis led Bermuda to victory.

But how times have changed, as this time around Bermuda failed to win a single match.

The lack of a youth league for several seasons was blamed for the demise of cricket at both the youth and senior levels and was one of the reasons behind the decision to remove Bailey and his executives from office.

Bailey had just been returned for a 14th term in February and his ouster was the biggest development in cricket in 1997.

Soon after taking over, James announced an agreement had been reached with Shell to revive the Shell Youth League in 1998.

Now, after a traumatic year cricket seems to be headed back in the right direction.

HARD TIMES -- Albert Steede didn't enjoy the best of seasons. Dropped as national team skipper, the Somerset opener also found himself on the losing side in Cup Match, just a year after having been voted the Classic's MVP.

CONTRASTING FORTUNES -- Veteran all-rounder Arnold Manders (left) returned to Cup Match and was re-appointed national team skipper while Charlie Marshall (right) found himself out of favour with both the national team, after an incident in Malaysia, and St. George's Cup Match selectors.