By Clay Smith

St David’s look invincible, but with Cup Match and Bermuda matches on the horizon, I wonder how many of their players will make themselves available for selection.

Last year, only two St David’s players played Cup Match and the last time Bermuda played, not one St David’s player was selected, raising questions about their commitment.

St David’s have an abundance of quality players such as George O’Brien, OJ Pitcher, Delyone Borden, Rudell Pitcher, Justin Pitcher, Kevin Hurdle and Fiqre Crockwell.

Last year, St George’s selected only OJ Pitcher and Justin Pitcher, which baffled many.

As Cup Match approaches, and with St David’s looking unbeatable, some are already calling it, “Somerset v St David’s”, jokingly of course.

It would be silly of St George’s not to take at least five St David’s players and build their team around them, especially since they are so dominant and have such a strong winning mentality?

Looking at last year’s St George’s team, it was very young and clearly picked with the future in mind.

But if you look at the majority of the St David’s players, they still have a good five to seven years left. I encourage St David’s players to commit to Cup Match because that’s one of the reasons that so few were chosen.

Too often, players don’t train regularly or they train without any real work ethic. It would be an injustice to Cup Match and the spectators if at least four or five St David’s players are not selected this year.

Cup Match is a big occasion, but then so is representing Bermuda.

So why did no St David’s players represent Bermuda in last year’s Twenty20 tournament in Dubai? This is baffling, especially after St David’s won last season’s T20 tournament in Bermuda.

It’s definitely not because of talent, so it must boil down to lack of commitment.

The reality is the Eastern Counties Cup appears more important to St David’s players than Cup Match or playing for Bermuda. But how do we change that worrying trend of thinking?

Bermuda need our best players to be available. For example, O’Brien should be one of the first names on the teamsheet for Cup Match and Bermuda.

He and Malachi Jones are by far the best two opening bowlers in Bermuda. George bowls with his head; he’s a very intelligent bowler. Whether he plays in Cup Match or for Bermuda boils down to his work ethic and commitment, though.

OJ Pitcher and Delyone Borden both played at the World Cup at a very young age. Perhaps that was a bad thing for them in terms of achieving too much too soon.

However, there’s much more that they can accomplish for their country, and Bermuda need them now more than ever.

Delyone has been omitted from the Bermuda training squad, which was announced on Wednesday, but as the coach Arnold Manders said, “it’s an open door”.

I’m sure if Delyone met with Arnold and expressed an interest in playing for Bermuda again he would be more than welcomed back. However, does he want to be included? That’s the question.

Then there’s Rudell Pitcher, who to me is probably the most underrated player in Bermuda. Having coached him in St George’s, I witnessed week in and week out his consistency with the ball and now he has improved his batting tremendously. It really surprised me that he’s not in the training squad. Too often we pick players because of their reputations and not based on what they produce on the field.

As for Crockwell and Justin Pitcher, it’s time they took their game to another level. Only through hard work and commitment will that happen, but do they want it bad enough?

I hope this doesn’t seem like a personal attack on the St David’s players, because it’s not.

I simply want to encourage them to step up to the plate and get the best out of their careers.

I know from my own experience that when your career is over, it is over. You don’t want to look back and have regrets.

As a team, St David’s are awesome, but if you want to be remembered as one of the best teams ever, you must learn what commitment is and challenge yourselves at the highest level.

Winning a Premier Division title is easy, winning Cup Match is a little harder, but playing for your country is the ultimate test.

Some players love a challenge, others run from it. What will you all do in the near future? Bermuda is watching!

Quote of the week: Once you have commitment, you need the discipline and hard work to get you there — Haile Gebrselassie