While 14 privileged souls will be carrying the expectations of a nation in Ireland this summer at the ICC Trophy, the domestic cricket season begins this Sunday with more of a whimper than a roar.

As Bermuda Cricket Board continue to be preoccupied with the task of preparing the national team for a successful assault on the game?s ultimate one-day showpiece for the first time in their cricketing history, cricket lovers Island-wide will be fixated on the progress of their local clubs, slugging it out under a revamped regime which is only in its second season.

The overhaul of the domestic game devised by the BCB?s technical committee in the winter of 2004 has generally been welcomed by a cricket community which often stands accused of backward thinking and inertia. To any cricket lover, the sight of young club players fighting it out on Bermuda?s cricket fields in the two-day league, gaining a thorough immersion in the complexities of the longer game, was a tremendously heartening one.

But while the structure itself has undergone enormous change, it would be difficult to argue that the usual suspects will not once again be challenging for honours in 2005.

Heartened by prolific opener Albert Steede?s decision to devote himself to the national cause and, by extension, to lend his immensely valuable services to his club for one more season, Western Stars have also been buoyed by the surprise arrival over the winter of young allrounder Jacobi Robinson from once-mighty Somerset.

Whether he became frustrated by his former club?s lack of on-field success or if he just fancied a change is not entirely clear.

But come the season?s end Stars may well have to buy a new trophy cabinet, boasting as they do a long batting line-up and a now formidable seam attack in Saleem Mukuddem, Dennis Archer and the increasingly pacey Robinson.

How badly their fortunes will be affected by the mass-exodus of national team players in June and July is anyone?s guess.

What is undeniable is that other teams are going to have to play out of their skin to keep up with a team which, on paper at least, looks supremely strong.

?Gaining Jacobi over the winter was a major bonus for us and we expect him to be a big asset with both bat and ball over the course of the season,? said Stars? left arm spinner Hasan Durham.

?In general we?re pretty happy with the strength of our squad and we think we?re going to be in with a shout in most competitions with the players at our disposal. We?ve lost Treadwell Gibbons jr. to Scottish cricket for the summer but we?ve also picked up some others such as Nikai Smith, Audley Campbell and David Lovell jr. There is absolutely no reason why, if everybody stays fit and we do not slip up too badly in July when some of us might be away with the national team, that we cannot be pretty successful.?

Casting his mind back to last summer, when Stars claimed the Belco Cup and the Premier Division Limited Overs league, Durham said he had enjoyed the new system in general and looked forward to the opportunity to blood young players further.

?We tended to view two-day cricket as a development resource and will continue to do so,? he said.

?The system was certainly different and was good for us because we have a lot of young players around the club who jumped at the opportunity. So while we won?t always be putting out our strongest teams for the two-day stuff, I still think it has a lot of value.?

St. George?s meanwhile, last season?s Premier Two-Day and Knockout Cup champions, have essentially maintained the status quo over the winter, losing only lanky seamer Ryan Steede to Bailey?s Bay and gaining the little-known Ricky Foggo from St. David?s? Commercial League outfit.

And while he admits attendance at training has been ?a little slow in picking up? since it began three weeks ago, coach George Cannonier is bullish about his side?s chances of success.

?We set a pretty high standard for ourselves last year and we believe we can repeat the feat or even improve on it,? he said.

?We are a strong bowling and fielding side and bowled a lot of teams out cheaply last season ? so hopefully we?ll get more of the same. Stars are one of the teams everybody expects to do well and they do tend to be a little bit more organised than other clubs as well as having a lot of experience to call on. They will be difficult to beat but we?ve done it before and there?s no reason why we cannot do it again.?

Not surprisingly, one side which Cannonier made special mention of was the boys from Southampton.

By their own admission they under-performed last year, handicapped by a chronic lack of runs and no doubt somewhat shell-shocked by the non-arrival of their ace in the pack Dwayne (Sluggo) Leverock after a botched transfer process.

But Bermuda?s best bowler, who was forced to turn out in the Commercial League in 2004 in the absence of any other meaningful cricket at his disposal, will be gracing the Southampton Oval this year along with explosive allrounder Lionel Cann, adding some welcome strength and experience to an outfit which should now be very much in the running for silverware.

The leading quartet is completed by Clay Smith led St. David?s who, still no doubt recovering from the devastating loss of their inspirational manager and mentor Delby Borden, will be anxious to do justice to his cherished memory on the field this season.

Given his unadulterated passion for the game, demonstrated over many years of dedicated service, it is difficult to think of a more apt tribute than to respond with cricket of the highest calibre they can muster.

And with their gaggle of talented youngsters and the wonderfully reassuring presence of Smith, both in terms of his level-headed batting and impressive tactical nouse, the East Enders have got to be taken very seriously.

While there is no guarantee in a place like Bermuda that the 2005 season will actually begin as scheduled this weekend as under-staffed club grounds once again struggle to get their football-shredded fields up to par, there can be no doubt that the campaign will be a significant ? one both in terms of the evolution of the domestic structure and the arguably unprecedented opportunity which awaits the national squad in the Emerald Isle.

As Clay Smith said earlier this week, with so much at stake, it is to be hoped that the local cricket fraternity ?is ready to turn it on?.