Sports Minister Dale Butler has called on Herbie Bascome to apologise for the alleged sledging that cast a dark shadow over Cup Match.

Bascome was accused of xenophobia by Somerset players and ICC Trophy squad members Saleem Mukkudem and Wendell White and Butler has described the comments they attributed to the St. George?s skipper as ?absolutely disgusting?.

Butler, who described the lack of sportsmanship shown in this year?s blighted summer classic as an ?anomaly?, believes Bascome should follow in the footsteps of George O?Brien jr and Stephen Outerbridge, who went on television to say sorry for their incident, which saw O?Brien punch the Somerset batsman after the latter had spat on him.

?An apology is needed here from Herbie,? said Butler who watched ?every ball of what should be our cricketing showpiece?.

?That sort of thing has no place in the game and I think he needs to come forward and apologise, although I know he has denied saying it.

?I was pleased that those two players came out and said sorry for what they did and that goes some way to helping us put all of this behind us.

?I know that sledging is part of the game but what was apparently said has absolutely no place in any sport.

?These players came to Bermuda to work, they fulfilled the rules to get a place in their parish side and they fulfilled the rules to play in the national side.

?They helped Bermuda achieve its greatest sporting achievement to date and for someone to say they are hurting Bermuda?s youth is simply not acceptable.?

Butler, however, was keen to point out that despite the shenanigans at Cup Match that breached almost every clause of his Ministry?s recently-published Code of Conduct, it was not an every day occurrence.

?Cup Match was an anomaly,? continued Butler, who is adamant that the document, although lacking any sanctions, still can play a positive role in Bermuda sport.

?There are plenty of sporting fixtures that take place that we don?t hear about where sportsmanship is at the fore and the Code of Conduct is adhered to.

?I was very disappointed at some of the things that went on during Cup Match but there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the future of sport here, especially cricket.?

Butler was then keen to move on from the subject of Cup Match to the much more comfortable subject of the 2007 World Cup, an event for which he has already booked his tickets.

?I think great things are about to happen in Bermuda cricket,? said Butler, who gave rousing speeches at official events both immediately before and immediately after Gus Logie?s men qualified for the West Indies spectacular in the ICC Trophy in Ireland last month.

?Qualifying for the World Cup is probably the greatest achievement in Bermuda sport to date and it is going to do wonders for the Island in terms of awareness and tourism and will also hopefully inspire another generation of players.

?I have never had so many people come up to me and say how pleased they are with our qualification, it is something everyone in Bermuda is talking about.

?And I want to go on record now and say that Government is going to do everything it can to help the Cricket Board do what they need to do to get us ready for the future and what we can?t help with, I?m sure Corporate Bermuda will step up to the wicket to help with.

?There has been some concern that we gave one million dollars to the Cricket Classic and only $100,000 towards the World Cup campaign, but that was just the first step.

?We eagerly await a detailed budget plan from the Cricket Board and then we will sit down with them and work out how we can help and what we can do for them.?

Butler was also keen to promote the idea of as many Islanders as possible heading down to the West Indies in 2007 to support the side.

?This is an incredible opportunity for the people of Bermuda to go and support their team. I expect to see at least 500 people down there in red, white and blue cheering our heroes on.?

And when it comes to Bermuda?s chances in the tournament, where Logie?s men meet Sri Lanka, Bangledesh and India in Trinidad, Butler offered his trademark enthusiasm and seemingly boundless optimism.

?Who knows what can happen in cricket,? he gushed.

?People say we have no chance but these other countries can never underestimate us. We are just going down there to participate, they are going there to win. It is David and Goliath and we all know how that ends.

?They don?t know about the onion juice in our veins, the cedar burning in our hearts, the shark oil in our hair and the North Rock wind in our lungs.?