PHC are back in the domestic cricket fold less than a year after withdrawing from the league,

The Warwick-based club failed to register a team in the First Division last season, citing a lack of sufficient players to fill their squad, highlighting the challenges faced by many of Bermuda’s community clubs who rely on players from their surrounding areas to keep them afloat.

Cal Waldron, who recently coached the national team during their disappointing performance in the ICC Cricket World Cup Challenge League in Malaysia, will take charge of the PHC team and has confirmed the team now have sufficient numbers to play in the league.

The team have been training since last month at Stadium Lane in preparation for the upcoming season.

“PHC are back in the domestic cricket league,” Waldron said. “The BCB [Bermuda Cricket Board] has been notified, the club has been registered and all the players are registered and signed up, so we’re just good to go.”

At the time PHC withdrew from the league, Steven Douglas, the chairman of cricket at the BCB, expressed his increasing concern about the dwindling number of cricketers in the domestic game, indicating the organisation under former president Arnold Manders would be implementing a strategy aimed at attracting former teams back into the league.

BCB executive director Cal Blankendal would not confirm PHC’s return when contacted by The Royal Gazette, stating that the make-up of both the men’s and women’s league would be released next week along with a full list of registered players.

“We’re still finalising some details so we’ll release our full list of clubs next week,’’ Blankendal said.

“We’re also continuing with women’s cricket so we’re just trying to do everything at once. We should be able to send out a notice next week with all the clubs registered for the season.”

The return of PHC will also be warmly welcomed by Western Counties Cricket Association, who last season were forced to plug a gap in their fixture list with an All-Stars game to fill the void left by the team’s withdrawal.

Waldron may have a few selection dilemmas this season as he revealed that PHC have a pool of about 20 players to pick from.

“We have more than enough players to play in the league, some are returning and some are new,’’ Waldron said.

“We definitely have a contingent of 20-plus players. They have been training since February and they were training when I was away.

“They were also doing Sunday mornings. Whenever the weather was good, they were down there Sunday mornings and since I came back, we've been training Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sunday mornings.

“Last time we pulled out we had a lot of younger guys who had summer jobs. They couldn’t train and they couldn't get weekends off, so it was hard for us to field a side.

“Now we've got some adults back, the 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday guys and their schedules are more flexible.”

Waldron expressed confidence in the squad they have assembled to put up a strong fight.

“If they follow the processes and apply themselves, they should be good enough to acquit themselves well,’’ he said.

Gavin Manders, better known for his exploits on the tennis court, is rumoured to be one of the players heading to PHC, but the batsman remains registered as a Western Stars player, with the only route for him to switch clubs being the BCB loan system.

Waldron is eagerly awaiting the end of the football season ends in just two weeks and the moment his cricketers can have access to the pitch, with PHC’s footballers playing their last match at home against already relegated X-Roads on Sunday, March 31.

“Once football is finished we’ll turn the field over to cricket,’’ Waldron said. “But it’s so good to have cricket back in the community and within the club.”