Bermuda?s newly-appointed cricket captain Clay Smith has received a ringing endorsement from one of the Island?s former top all-rounders.

Sheridan Raynor, the first Bermudian batsman ever to score a century in a first-class match, said Smith?s appointment on Thursday was ?long overdue?.

?Considering all of the problems we have encountered in the last ten years, I think he should have been picked a long time ago,? said Raynor. ?A lot of time has been wasted and he is presently at his peak.

?Clay has always been a very good player, although at times I think he has spoken out a little too much and put more pressure on himself. But that?s probably just the person he is and now we will have to get a hold of some youngsters for him to mould and get the national team ready within the next five years.?

Smith will lead the Island?s national team during next year?s World Cup qualifying tournament which will be held on local soil.

?He really proved to me that he has guts against (recent tourists) Barbados when some of our other top senior players found all types of excuses not to play,? added Raynor, who became the first local to score a ton at the international level (126 not out) against an English County Select at Devonshire Recreation Club in 1961.

?In any type of sport, if you can?t test yourself against some of the best in the world then there?s absolutely no point in you even playing the game.?

Raynor, 69, says he would also like to see the local game revert back to the open format.

?To have youngsters playing in 50-over matches is not good,? he said. ?It may be OK for some of the older players who are on their way out but not for the youngsters.

?The youngsters need to spend more time at the wicket. The more time they spend at the crease, the better they become. Overs cricket doesn?t allow youngsters time to groom and really I can?t see how we ever got to playing only 50-over matches in the first place.

?Open cricket provides youngsters ample time to learn how to stay at the crease and build an innings. And it is the best format for developing players.?

Raynor even suggested an old remedy that he believed could assist local batsmen ? coconut matting which players in his era used prior to the introduction of turf batting strips during the 1960s.

?The only way we will be able to master fast bowling in Bermuda is to get hold of some coconut matting,? he said. ?That?s the fastest it gets and it is not only quick, but it makes the ball cut in and out. Coconut matting would make batsmen?s reflexes twice as good as on Astroturf.

?On Astroturf, the ball comes through true with hardly any movement and that isn?t any good for batsmen looking to improve their technique.

?Once you can master the coconut matting then you can play anywhere in the world. Players like (the late) Charles Daulphin, Dennis Wainwright, Lee Raynor, Eldon Raynor and John Tucker encountered no problems facing fast bowlers because they mastered the coconut matting. Once you get onto a turf surface it seems as though the ball is coming off straight and slow.?