Steven Douglas, cricket chairman of the Bermuda Cricket Board, has raised concerns over the future of domestic cricket after PHC withdrew from the upcoming campaign.

In advance of the new season, which is set to start on Sunday, PHC are a notable omission from the recently released fixture list. It is thought that the club will not take part in any competitions this season, including Western Counties.

Douglas confirmed that the club, who finished seventh in the eight-team First Division last season, had failed to register a team, citing a lack of sufficient players to fill their squad.

The withdrawal comes as a huge disappointment to Douglas, who is worried about the trend of dwindling numbers within the game.

“It’s definitely a major concern for the BCB when a club withdraws from the league,” he said.

“I don’t like to speak out of turn, but from our point of view, the club did not register a team for the new First Division season because essentially they did not have enough players to fill their squad.”

Reflecting on the apparent dearth of players, Douglas has pointed to the larger numbers of the population having relocated overseas, as well as a greater choice of sports the island’s athletes can pursue.

“The dwindling numbers of players has been an issue for a number of years now,” he added.

“We are seeing more people moving off island to different countries and back when I started playing most people really only played football, cricket and did athletics.

“People of all ages have a lot more choice now in sports they can take up and unfortunately some other areas and sports have been left behind somewhat over the years.”

In an attempt to to try to reverse the worrying trend, Douglas revealed the BCB are already looking into a number of different strategies within the existing senior leagues, as well as with some youth programmes.

“We have already looked at putting a plan together to meet a number of local clubs who used to compete to see if they have any interest in registering a team again,” he said.

“If we want to be successful in helping to grow the game on island again, we obviously need more teams to help players develop.

“We are also looking into strategic plans to do more with youth cricket. We have to look at ways of bringing youngsters through to junior teams and then ultimately into senior cricket. The hope is that players start at a club and continue all the way through so that club becomes a home from home for those players.”

The opening weekend of season features three Premier Division fixtures on Sunday all set to start at 10.30am.

While defending champions St David’s receive a bye, some potential title challengers will be in action.

Among them are last year’s runners-up Bailey’s Bay, who start the season by welcoming promoted Warwick Workmen’s Club to Sea Breeze Oval.

Bay strengthened their ranks in the close season, making three signings, with Rodney Trott joining from St George’s, Terron Webb leaving PHC and Davian McGlashin arriving from Western Stars.

A lot of eyes will be on the action at Somerset Cricket Club for the meeting between two promoted clubs. Cleveland County and last season’s First Division champions Western Stars.

Cleveland raised plenty of eyebrows in the summer after being the most active club in the transfer window with a host of notable additions joining.

The Harris Bay outfit made no fewer than seven new signings, headed by Dion Stovell who made the switch from Southampton Rangers. Allan Douglas Jr is part of four arrivals from St George’s along with Isaiah Greaves, Jabari Darrell and Treadwell Gibbons Jr.

Jahcobi Butterfield has made the switch from Warwick Workmen's Club, with Jahmari Beach’s arrival from PHC wrapping up a busy close season for the team.

The final fixture on Sunday pits two clubs entering transition periods as St George's welcome Southampton Rangers to Wellington Oval.

The St George’s squad will have a different look to last season with Detroy Smith also opting to join Flatts.

In response to the exodus of players, Clay Smith’s side have confirmed just one addition with Charles Trott, who is recovering from a broken metatarsal, arriving from Rangers.

Rangers also endured a host of departures, with Nirobi Smith-Mills and Tayo Smith following Janeiro Tucker to Somerset, and Shannon Rayner leaving for St David’s.

In response, Rangers have confirmed the signings of Curtis Jackson from Cleveland as player-coach and Shirwin Jones from Devonshire Rec.

The First Division will open with just one fixture on May 13, when Willow Cuts will take on the Bermuda Under-19 team, who have entered the league for a second successive season, at Somerset Cricket Club.