Bermuda may have made little headway in their attempt to get local umpires more involved in major multiple-day matches in the Caribbean, but the Island's three-member delegation that recently returned from the West Indies Cricket Umpires Association's biennial convention in St. Vincent still found the trip worthwhile.

Bermuda Cricket Umpires Association president Dennis Raynor said that while limited progress was made in getting more recognition for local umpires, they were still able to gain "a wealth of experience and knowledge'' from the meeting.

Raynor and Randy Butler were the two elected Bermuda delegates while Janet Todd attended as an observer. Butler is secretary of the BCUA and Todd treasurer.

A number of discussion papers were presented, and delegates were able to get a better understanding of the duties of both the third umpire and the stand-by umpire, according to Raynor. And they also got an understanding of how the electronic eye could be of more assistance to umpires in the future.

"There were lots of rules and regulations that were discussed and you came to realise we all still have so much to learn about the sport of cricket,'' added Raynor.

"The issue about getting our umpires more exposed abroad appears to be a touch and go matter. There is an indication that they are having problems getting the same for their own.'' Reportedly many umpires in the Caribbean felt the International Cricket Conference's decision to assign one of their own officials to Test duty during the recent Australian tour prevented the Caribbean umpires from getting the exposure they had hoped for at Test level.

Previously the Test umpires for the entire series consisted of members from the WICUA only, and often as many as six were involved in a series. But this year everything was handled by the same trio, consisting of the appointed ICC umpire and the same two WICUA members.

Raynor pointed out that with Bermuda never expected to become a Test playing nation, the chances of local umpires getting similar exposure in the Caribbean ahead of their West Indies counterparts had likely diminished.

However, Bermuda were acknowledged for acting as first class hosts during the 16th biennial WICUA convention two years ago and BCUA secretary Randy Butler was elected a member of the publicity committee that has been given the task of raising funds to publish an umpires' magazine by early next year.

The WICUA membership grew by two with the acceptance of the United States and Cayman Islands to its ranks.

Meanwhile, the shortage of cricket umpires in Bermuda is not only a worry to local clubs, but is also becoming a grave concern to the BCUA.

Two weeks ago the disappointing turnout by officials at Premier Division games alerted the BCUA about the problem as it became clear that better support would be needed from members.

However, the situation was even more alarming over the past weekend when one game had no official umpire and several others featured just one.

"We are hoping that the past weekend would be an exception because there was a heavy demand because of matches on Saturday and Sunday. But the truth of the matter is that we are experiencing a few problems,'' said one concerned member.

"We are hopeful that the matter will sort itself out when some of our regulars become more available.'' Clubs have been privately expressing their concern over what they regard as acts of neglect by some umpires who failed to show up for games to which they had been appointed.

"We certainly have the numbers, it's just a matter of having people making themselves available,'' said the member.

RANDY BUTLER -- elected to the WICUA publicity committee.