Fast bowler George O?Brien jr is the obvious high-profile casualty of a 15-strong national cricket squad released last night ahead of the upcoming trip to Kenya and South Africa.

O?Brien, who was Bermuda?s leading wicket-taker in the triumphant Americas Championship campaign in August, has been suffering from a hamstring injury ever since returning from Canada and has not recovered sufficiently.

But in a rare departure from tradition last night, national coach Gus Logie criticised the highly-rated youngster for his ?slowness? in getting the injury properly dealt with, as well his ?casual? efforts at getting himself in the appropriate shape to play international cricket.

While not mentioning O?Brien by name, the Trinidadian then added: ?Just because somebody is a ?big-name player? so to speak, if they are not pulling their weight then we as selectors and as coaches are not going to pick them. Most of the players understand that it doesn?t matter who they are, there are certain standards expected of all of them and if those standards are not met then they will not be selected ? it?s as simple as that.?

While nobody has been willing to go on the record up until now, behind the scenes at the Bermuda Cricket Board there have been concerns for some time that arguably Bermuda?s most talented young fast bowler was not losing the weight he ought to be and that he was not doing enough to justify his selection.

It is also understood that O?Brien?s time at a cricket academy last winter in Australia was fraught with difficulty and that despite having his training interrupted by injury, academy coaches reported back to the BCB on more than one occasion that his work ethic was leaving a lot to be desired.

The St. David?s seamer has had his run-ins with the national team management as well, and was given a dressing down and put on probation by the BCB after failing to turn up for a training session when the team were in Antigua just before the Stanford 20-20 tournament in July.

As expected, meanwhile, Glamorgan skipper David Hemp takes his place in the squad for the first time and will more than likely slot in at the top of the order when the action gets underway in November.

Hemp will be returning to the Island next week after a patchy season with the bat for his county to complete the required number of days he must have worked on the Island to qualify to represent the country.

On the captaincy front, Clay Smith has been named skipper for the two Intercontinental Cup games against Kenya and Holland ? though ongoing anxiety over the state of his knee means he will not a play in all of the scheduled one-day games, meaning Irving Romaine will continue to be the man in charge in that form of the game.

?We?re still not 100 percent happy that Clay?s knee is fully recovered so we decided that splitting the captaincy was the best option in the circumstances,? Logie said.

?He will play a full part in the four-day games, but we want to protect him from the hustle and bustle of 50-overs cricket for the time being and it will probably not be until new year before Clay is playing a full part in both forms of the game.

?He is incredibly important to us and perhaps we?re being a little over-cautious, but we feel it is right to wrap him in cotton wool and make sure he is ready for when it really matters.?

Two youngsters in the form of Southampton Rangers all-rounder Malachi Jones and Bailey?s Bay offspinner Rodney Trott have also been included after Board-led negotiations with their schools were resolved successfully.

Trott will be with the squad for the entire trip ? as the team?s third spinner and as cover for Hasan Durham who is days away from learning whether his questionable bowling action has been deemed legal by the world governing body ? while Jones will return home after the Kenya leg of the trip to be replaced by Lionel Cann.

Cann, the explosive middle order batsman who has been crucial to the team since World Cup qualification was secured, particularly in limited overs cricket, is still recovering from groin surgery and his fitness will continue to be assessed over the course of the next few weeks.

Other developments of note include the retention of Herbie Bascome as Logie?s assistant coach after making his first appearance as the Trinidadian?s deputy in Canada while the UK-based Stefan Kelly, who is already at the ICC training camp in South Africa along with Romaine, Hurdle and Kwame Tucker, has been recalled.