There was a time under the Ed Bailey administration at the then Bermuda Cricket Board of Control – 1988 – that Clarence Parfitt almost got the job of national coach.He came back for talks with the Board but when nothing materialized he got frustrated and went back to Scotland.Then in 2005, just before the successful World Cup qualifying campaign, he saw another opportunity open up, if not as head coach then perhaps as a bowling coach for the national teams.That, too, came to nought.Nowadays, Bermuda's greatest bowling talent, who turned 67 last weekend, prefers not to get his hopes up of ever getting the opportunity to coach in his own country, even though he knows he could make a valuable contribution.“It was 1988, I came back home because the Board asked me to come back, but nothing materialized so I went back to Scotland,” Parfitt said.“I was here for a month. I found out from somebody who said ‘listen, half the board don't want you'. I said well, if you don't want me, I just got a call from a club in Scotland who told me to name my price'. I went back to Scotland. That's water under the bridge now.”Fast forward to 2005 and Parfitt got his hopes up again after it looked like something might develop ahead of the World Cup qualifying tournament in Ireland.“I had spoken to them but nobody could tell me what the deal was, contract-wise,” said the former medium-pacer who holds coaching qualifications in Scotland and only just recently retired as Regional Development Officer for Scottish cricket. He held the post for 15 years.“They (Board) couldn't tell me how long the contract would be, what the money would be. I never got a reply but then I got an application sent to me two days before it closed which I looked at. The next thing I heard was (Gus) Logie was coach. Are we scared of Bermudians getting a job like that?“I thought Bermuda was for Bermudians but it doesn't seem to be. They don't want Bermudians to do the job, that's what I see from the outside. I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.“I have always said that if an opportunity comes they have to want me. When I was willing to come and they said yes and then nothing materialized, what does that tell me? I'm quite happy now, doing my coaching, and helping the Scotland team. When you can't do it in your own country something is wrong.”Parfitt is disappointed at the attitude shown by some Bermuda players to national team representation.“Take the money away,” he said. “You've got to go back to where we were. Other countries are laughing at Bermuda in the sense that we have all this money going to the players but we are going backwards.“Are the players committed? Each player needs to sign a contract and stipulate on the contract the dos and don'ts. When I played for Bermuda I paid my own way, because we wanted to play for Bermuda. These boys have to ask the question of themselves, do they want to play for Bermuda or are they only in it for the money.“If they are only in it for the money then Bermuda is wasting their time. They should go back and start rebuilding with the 17 and 18 year olds. If they don't want to train, drop them and pick the ones who want to. Then you'll make a team.”He added: “What I see is no discipline and the clubs are more at fault than anybody. The clubs have to realise that Bermuda comes first. We haven't learned that yet. In Scotland guys are playing representative matches for Scotland on days of league matches. They go to play for Scotland because Scotland comes first. And they travel a lot more than they do here, they travel two or three hours just for training at 10 o'clock in the morning. Guys here travel 15 minutes and can't make it, so where is the dedication? Ninety percent of it is application and discipline.“One of the things I see that Bermuda needs is a bowling coach because the bowling is rubbish. They (cricket officials) have to ask ‘what do we have to do to get back up?' That's the question they have to answer.“We have a special blend of cricketers in Bermuda. They are talented, not disciplined and they only play when they want to play. We've got to get the discipline and respect back and the love to play for Bermuda first. Not second, not third…first. It should be Bermuda, your club, yourself.”