Wendell Smith has quit his position as Director of Cricket Development with Bermuda Cricket Board.

But it was unclear last night exactly when he left the post and who is in line to replace him.

As reported exclusively in The Royal Gazette a week ago, national team skipper Irving Romaine was seconded to the job on an interim basis by the Ministry of Education, Sports and Recreation immediately after the Island squad returned from the World Cup in late March.

However, BCB officials last week refused to comment on the position.

Asked about Smith’s future with the BCB, chief executive Neil Speight remarked: “That is something we don’t want to talk about at the moment.”

Yet just yesterday the Board released the following brief statement:

“The BCB announce with regret that they have accepted the resignation of Wendell Smith effective April 30, 2007 for personal reasons.

“We wish Wendell well in all his future endeavours. The position of Director of Cricket Development is a critical element of the BCB’s strategic and operational plan and work has commenced to source an appropriately qualified person to fill this position as soon as possible.”

It now remains to be seen whether Romaine will be appointed on a permanent basis, combining the role with that of national team skipper, a position he is keen to retain.

Bailey’s Bay batsman Romaine is currently promoting the game in schools, one of the key mandates Smith — responsible for the development of all youth cricket on the Island — had initially set out to achieve after taking a one-year sabbatical from his job as headmaster at Paget Primary to assume the role full time.

Nobody from the BCB could be reached last night for further comment.