The Bermuda Cricket Board has begun initial talks with national coach Niraj Odedra over a new deal.

Odedra, 48, is still contracted to the BCB until the end of this month but is back home in India with his family after presiding over Bermuda’s unsuccessful quest to qualify for next year’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

BCB executive director Cal Blankendal has revealed that no contract has yet been offered as the board carries out an extensive evaluation of Odedra’s tenure and the future direction of Bermuda cricket.

“His contract ends on October 31 and what we are now discussing is a new contractual agreement,’’ Blankendal said.

“He hasn't been offered a new contract but both sides are in talks to continue the partnership. He is still tied to the Bermuda Cricket Board until the end of the month and after that we will go into talks to see if we can have a long-term agreement.

“We’re having our internal discussions and there are timelines to have these discussions and reach agreement, so we’re on our timeline to make sure we do a proper review of his time in Bermuda, what could be improved and the direction we want to go in.

“It’s just a regular review you do in business. You review what the employee may want, you review what the business may be able to provide and come out with, hopefully, an agreement between both parties to continue the relationship.

“There is a financial review, tournament reviews and reviews on him. When you do all of those reviews you come to the next steps that the BCB wants to go in, and also the direction that the coach wants to go in.

“Once we’ve done that, we’ll notify the general public but there’s no concerns on either side. You keep it confidential what you’re talking about until it’s finalised and both parties are able to relay that at the same time to the general public.”

Speaking on the team’s failure to qualify for the World Cup, Blankendal chose to focus on the brighter side of things.

“It was disappointing as we had high expectations playing at home but I would like to look at the positive side of it,” he said.

“You have to be honest and we didn’t qualify, so everyone is on a low but the positive side is that we can, first of all, compete with the team that’s going to the World Cup, so that means we wouldn’t be a misfit if we had qualified.

“Second issue is that we can host international tournaments at an Associate level.

“It showed there is passion for the game by the general public, Government and sponsors, and that there are young people that actually want to play cricket.

“To not qualify is disappointing but the future of cricket in the near future, from 2024 to 2027, looks more promising with this group of players and also the young people that seem to have renewed passion for cricket.

“Hopefully, with some additional funding we can continue to receive from the Government of Bermuda and increase from the ICC with the new budget cycle.

“I don’t want to have this sad story, not qualifying for the World Cup is tough on everyone but if you let it beat you down you’re not focusing on getting there.

“We were close but we didn't get there and there’s no guarantee you will get there again in 2026, but the only way you can get there is by trying to do the same things you’ve done, but just to improve by 10 per cent.

There are a number of international tournaments on the horizon and Blankendal is committing to build on Bermuda’s reputation

“With the ICC tournaments coming up and the Bermuda Premier League, we’re already guaranteed at least three tournaments in 2024, so there’s no need to panic,” Blankendal said.

“It’s not the end of the world as there are the Cricket World Challenge League play-offs 50 overs between February and April and we have to finish in the top two in one of those divisions.

“The same tournament we had in Argentina will start at the end of next year and then the final qualifying round will be held sometime in 2025, so there’s no time to feel sorry for yourself because training should start again some time in the middle of November.

“It will be hands on, physical, mental and technical training to get ready for the tournament in February.

The failure to qualify for the World Cup does have financial implications and Blankendal was keen to point out the state of play.

“Everyone has this magic number of millions,’’ Blankendal said.

“We have not received a number from the ICC as the number we got would have been as low as $75,000 and maybe as high as $250,000, but if you had looked at the amount of money we would need to spend to prepare the team, $250,000 would have been way below what would have been required for travelling for six months from January to the beginning of June before you actually compete in the tournament for a guaranteed four games.

“The setback is trying to attract additional sponsors that wouldn’t normally come on board.

“We didn't get there so we cant cry over spilt milk, we have a budget, we know what we can do.

“It’ll take some money to keep the team on the same level of competition.”