Concerned stakeholders met with Bermuda Cricket Board (BCB) last week to air their grievances over the current state of domestic cricket.During the nearly three-hour long gathering at BCB headquarters, the board’s affiliates raised concerns over issues ranging from player and umpire shortages to player discipline that are having a negative impact on the national sport.“Basically the state of cricket in Bermuda is so bad that people are concerned so we had a meeting to work out where we are going to go,” said one BCB affiliate, who spoke under condition of anonymity. “The meeting was called because the clubs in general are concerned about the state of cricket and where it’s going.”BCB affiliates also submitted a host of proposals to the board that they believe can turn local cricket’s flagging fortunes around.These proposals included:*Playing Twenty20 cricket in the evening during week days rather than on Saturdays to alleviate player shortage.*Reserve Saturdays for junior cricket solely*Revise transfer policy*Points deduction for unsportsmanlike behaviour*Educating players on the laws of the game*Re-instate the Champion of Champions competition*Recruiting Bermuda Football Referees Association members and educating them on the laws of cricketBCB president, Lloyd Fray, described last week’s well-attended meeting as “productive” .“The meeting was very productive and was certainly on a mutual basis,” he said. “We together with the clubs, players and umpires compiled a list of issues along with long and short term plans to assist with improving the domestic league.“The BCB is presently working through the data gathered from the meeting which we will refer back to all parties involved for their understanding and review and for us together to implement meaningful actionable plans.”Also in attendance at the meeting was Willow Cuts scorer Dennis Hussain who hopes the BCB will keep their promise to meet again with its affiliates in the near future to further address the ills affecting the domestic game.“I think it was a productive meeting and hopefully the BCB will follow through with what they said they are going to go ahead and do,” he said. “The BCB are supposed to go through these proposals and get back to the clubs and see what we can do to help develop cricket and make it better. And everyone pleaded with them to follow through on their promise.”The 2012 cricket season has been marred by player shortages that have resulted with matches being postponed. The first two rounds of the Regional Championship involving the two Cup Match clubs and players from the Eastern, Central and Western Zones were cancelled due to player shortage.There have also been cases where matches have been played without official umpires, such as the controversial May 6 First Division match between Flatts and Western Stars, that was abandoned at St John’s Field after tempers flared.This season has also seen two players receive one year bans for breaching the BCB’s code of conduct and umpires subjected to threatening behaviour from players. Concerns have also been raised over a seemingly lack of interest by players towards a senior national program that has fallen on rough times since the 2007 World Cup.