Former Bermuda Cricket Board president Arnold Manders is hopeful his successor, Lloyd Smith, will help to improve the state of the game on island.

Manders, 64, went into Wednesday’s meeting seeking a second three-year term, only to lose the presidency to 55-year-old Smith, with the latter being voted into the role by winning the secret ballot 7-6.

“For me, cricket is in a very delicate place, so I hope that they can take us through the rest of the way, with president Smith,” Manders said.

The former Bermuda all-rounder is still dumbfounded by how he lost, since two of the clubs that had promised to back his bid to retain the presidency decided to renege on that commitment.

“Apparently, two of the clubs that said they’ll vote for me didn’t,’’ he told The Royal Gazette. “It seems people changed their minds.

“The clubs are the ones that make the decisions, I will respect whatever they chose.

“I can’t even begin to think why I lost, I thought we were going in the right direction.

“I can’t speak for the clubs and what they think. I have my own personal opinions, but I’ll keep them to myself.

“Some things don’t go as planned, it’s a democratic society.

“I’m a little disappointed but the clubs have spoken, it is what it is, 7-6, it could have gone either way.”

One of the reasons why Manders sought a new term, which he said would have been his last, was for him to finish off the BCB strategic plan, which still has some years left to be completed.

Despite losing his role, he is not expecting a deviation from that blueprint.

“The good thing is we have three more years left on the strategic plan,’’ he added.

“It’s a strategic plan which I initiated, we did it jointly with the ICC.

“The ICC Americas wanted every country to have a strategic plan; we were one of the first to have it.

“All they have to do is follow it. If they don’t, the ICC will hold them accountable because it’s with them as well. That’s the good part about it.”

While Manders still wants to continue being involved in cricket, he is fully aware that Smith holds the key to his further involvement in the game.

“That’s a choice of the new president,” Manders said. “It depends on who he wants in which committee, high performance and development, usually that’s where I work.

“I don’t know what the future holds for me, it’s up to the president and the chairmen of the various committees.

“I don’t even know what’s going to happen even with the national coach.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen with us hiring back Niraj [Odedra], because now there’s a new president. He may want to go a different way.”