for dope.

NDC chairman Mansfield (Jimmy) Brock pledged "full assistance and cooperation'' for the Bermuda Cricket Board of Control (BCBC).

He said he made the promise while speaking to BCBC president Ed Bailey following the furore over the Malaysian cricket tournament.

And he pointed out tests could be done fairly cheaply and quickly -- removing two obstacles reportedly behind an apparent reluctance to test Bermuda's sports players.

"I am sending Mr. Bailey information on a new drug-testing kit we have researched over the past few months which will do testing for a wide variety of drugs -- mood altering drugs to performance-enhancing drugs.'' His offer follows a growing storm of controversy over Bermuda's ill-fated attempt in Malaysia to qualify for the next World Cup.

At least two Bermuda cricketers allegedly defied Malaysia's death penalty law for drug traffickers by smoking marijuana in their hotel room. And there have been reports of a string of other incidents.

It has emerged the team was not officially tested or drug searched before or after the tour.

BCBC officials, hit by resignation calls, have now set up a committee headed by lawyer Michael Mello to investigate the drug suspicions.

The other members will be Postmaster General Clevelyn Crichlow and Supt.

Campbell Simons, from Bermuda Police.

Yesterday Mr. Brock said Mr. Bailey had expressed gratitude for the NDC offer of help.

"He indicated that the Board was starting an inquiry to first ascertain whether illicit drugs were used. This has to be completed first before deciding what to do next.'' Mr. Brock said three years ago the NDC received a disappointing response from sporting bodies to attempts to tackle drug problems.

"We invited organisations to get involved in 1994. We wrote to every club and sporting body, inviting them to join with us in putting in place the appropriate policies and strategies for preventing this sort of thing from happening.

"At that time we got little response. We did not get the kind of response we thought was desirable.'' Mr. Brock said the BCBC -- now involved in a "drugs don't work'' initiative launched by the NDC and Ministry of Youth and Sport -- was among those invited.

He believed the Board responded at the time, although he could not clearly remember.

It is not the first time the BCBC has received offers of help with drug testing and counselling.

On Thursday, Shadow Sport Minister Nelson Bascome, a trained drugs counsellor, said he made a fruitless offer to the Board two years ago.

"They said they would get back to me, but they never did,'' he said.

Mr. Bascome said he developed the "Athletes Assistance Programme'' in 1995.

And he believed his services would have helped the BCBC avert the latest sporting controversy.

He also called for Government to pump more funds into fighting drugs in sports.

Mr. Bascome, stressing he was not on the executive of any sporting body, pointed out he had not received an official invitation to the recent Ministry of Youth Development, Sport and Recreation's Drug-Free Sports Conference.

He said he received a verbal invitation from Sports Minister David Dyer, but nothing in writing.

CRICKET CRI