Bermuda cricket has its own identity and so there?s no need for the Island to join ranks with the West Indies, argues Clarence Parfitt.

The legendary bowler?s comments come on the heels of another of the Island?s former top cricketers, Noel Gibbons, who last week backed calls for Bermuda cricket to be affiliated with the Caribbean.

National team all-rounder Lionel Cann is also among those who disagree local cricket should come under the auspices of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).

?We are our own nation and do not need to be affiliated with anybody. We already have One Day status to play against Test playing countries so why do we now have to affiliate with the West Indies,? Parfitt told .

There are those who feel Bermuda will never be able to compete against the bigger cricket playing countries on its own with limited player resources and might be better off joining ranks with the WICB in the future, a concept that fell by the wayside in 1939.

Bermuda?s relations with its Caribbean neighbours were also briefly soured in the 1970s when late Bermuda Cricket Board of Control (BCBC) president Alma (Champ) Hunt visited South Africa at the height of apartheid, a decision that ultimately cost the legendary figure honorary life presidency of the Board.

Gibbons later declined a lucrative offer to play professionally in South Africa.

Bermuda?s senior national team have come under criticism after losing their previous nine limited overs matches since qualifying for the 2007 World Cup last July in Ireland.

But according to Parfitt, Cup Match?s all-time leading bowler, ?we?re going to lose matches?.

He added: ?You have to lose before you can become a winner and to start talking about affiliating ourselves with the West Indies is going backwards.

?Is Scotland affiliated with England? No they are on their own and so I agree Bermuda should also have their own identity and it took Scotland many years to get where they are. Bermuda has its own identity and we used to be one of the top ten teams in the world about 25 years ago.?

Scotland won last year?s ICC Trophy in Ireland and the inaugural ICC Intercontinental Cup in 2004.

?Bermuda cricket has been in decline and because our cricket has gone backwards we now want to be affiliated,? Parfitt added. ?The West Indies are never going to take any of our players unless they are exceptional, and that?s one out of a hundred. So where are the rest of the players going to go?

?We were affiliated with the West Indies but then they kicked us out when Champ (Hunt) decided to visit South Africa.?

Hunt?s visit also deprived the likes of Lee and Sheridan Raynor, Dennis Wainwright and Parfitt cricket trials with the West Indies.

Incidentally, the BCBC backed a proposal to have South Africa?s Test playing status reinstated in the early 1990s.

To date, Hunt is the only Bermudian ever to undergo trials with the West Indies Test team having done so in Trinidad in 1933.

The West Indies toured Bermuda in 1939 and 2004 in the lead up to a successful ICC Champions Cup campaign under now Bermuda coach Gus Logie.

?Because we are losing it?s almost as though we want to run. But we?re going to lose matches because we have never played at this level before,? Parfitt said.

?And any experience we can gain at this stage will only benefit us in the long run because we?ve just fallen so far behind in the last 15 to 20 years. We must learn to crawl before we can walk or run.

?It?s going to take Bermuda cricket five to ten years to really develop and put the Island on the map. We have to now keep going forward and not sit back because nothing happens overnight.?