Although Bermuda’s teams are in the midst of the football season, it is that time of the year when someone within each club needs to start planning for the cricket campaign.

Clubs, along with the Bermuda Cricket Board, have to take responsibility for getting local cricket back on track, or at least heading in the right direction. The key to this is professionalism.

For the cricket season to be a success, a lot of planning has to take place and most of it should have been done already.

The BCB must set the standard for the rest to follow. For example, it’s about time the BCB started providing a schedule to the clubs at least a month or two before the season starts.

Last year the schedule was not finalised until a week before the start of the season. It is time for the BCB to raise the bar.

Imagine if the BCB was to come forward in March with a completed schedule, all the rule changes and format changes for the season, and meet with coaches, captains and umpires to discuss them and address any other concerns.

However, the clubs, too, must play their part so that this can be made possible. Clubs without a playing field should have finalised where they play their homes games by now and made that information known to the BCB.

This is just a small part of working together for the betterment of cricket.

Over the next few weeks, most clubs will look to have a team meeting, where they will discuss their plans for the season. One thing high on each club’s priority list should be a good coach.

I was shocked to discover that a few clubs last year were operating without a full-time coach. If cricket is to improve, we need our best coaches available. What good is it having national coaches involved in the BCB Academy, but not coaching at a club?

Mind you, I do realise that some coaches want outrageous amounts of money these days, and clubs simply cannot afford them.

The BCB must step in and make a directive to their national coaches, that to be coaching in the national set-up, you must be coaching at a club. That way we know that clubs across the Island are getting decent training.

So, what needs to be put in place for the cricket season to be a success?

n Coloured clothing should be reinstated. The uniform encourages club pride, not only for players, but spectators, too. Previously, some clubs were concerned about paying for two white match balls. If finance is a problem, maybe the BCB can find a sponsor for one match ball and the clubs pay for the other. That way we stay on par with ICC standards.

n Two leagues is a must. Looking at last season’s statistics, there were only seven competitive teams. There should be two leagues — a Premier Division and First Division both made up of seven teams.

At present, there are only 13 teams, but I would have the Bermuda Under-17 side, or the under-19 team, play in the First Division to give them as much playing opportunities as possible.

With this in mind, the under-17 or under-19 games would be played on Saturdays so that the players can join up with their clubs on Sundays, which, in the long run, should produce better cricketers.

n Discipline and attire needs to be strongly addressed and enforced consistently throughout.

Players need to look like cricketers. If you go to games now, some players are untidily dressed, some wear various coloured trainers, or they opt to wear a baseball cap instead of the team cap.

It should be made mandatory that the only caps allowed are team caps or white cricket hats.

Umpires need to be consistent in reporting incidents, which for the most part they are. However, there is the odd occasion when a high-profile player seems to get away with unsatisfactory behaviour on the field. This has to be stamped out if we want to attract more spectators.

n For cricket to improve, the pitches and surroundings must also improve. The BCB needs to appoint someone to monitor each club’s facilities and grade them.

Things to look out for should include: clean changing rooms, standard of wicket, field preparations (marked and cut), cleanliness of surrounding areas for spectators, warm-up net availability, sightscreen (size and location). Each club should be marked and the BCB would need to address those with a low score.

These are four major things I believe that need to be addressed as the road to recovery starts. I cannot stress enough to the BCB and the clubs about professionalism. You do not have to be a professional to act like one, but if you want to attain higher heights, you must think like one.

We cannot keep doing the same thing year in and year out and expect different results. Changes have to be made; stiffer guidelines have to be put in place to improve the quality and presentation of our national sport.

Again, the BCB needs to set the standard through its actions and demand that the clubs, umpires and players follow.

Then and only then will our road to recovery really start.

Quote of the week: Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose, as well as perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing — Thomas A Edison