CANCELLATION of this September's World Cup qualifying tournament in California followed, predictably, by withdrawal from a planned tour of Trinidad and Tobago next month, represents a double body blow that Bermuda cricket can ill afford.

Even in anticipation of the trip to Los Angeles, Bermuda Cricket Board were finding it difficult to interest players in serious preparation.

Now, with nothing on the horizon, attendance at national team training sessions has reportedly slumped again.

Lack of international fixtures - and as such incentive for the players - has been largely responsible for local cricket's downward spiral.

It wasn't that many years ago that teams such as Kenya, Canada, the Netherlands, Namibia and even Bangladesh - all of whom featured in last month's World Cup - would have had their hands full against any senior Bermuda XI. These days, those countries are a class apart.

Much like our other national sport, Bermuda cricket has slipped alarmingly down the world rankings.

And unless more effort is put into securing international competition on a regular basis, then there can be little hope of recovery.

While incoming and outgoing tours are always going to stretch the BCB's budget, somehow a way has to be found to provide our best players with a level of competition much higher than they will encounter in the domestic league.

For those on the BCB executive that has to be an immediate priority.

Bermuda's long-term target must be to earn a place in the next World Cup to be held in the West Indies in 2007. But to achieve that goal we have to follow the lead taken by cricket's other so-called 'minnows' whose international schedule, while not nearly as congested as the Test-playing nations, still allows their leading players an opportunity to develop and experiment against more seasoned opponents.

Sadly, since the ICC Trophy debacle of two years ago, Bermuda cricket has done next to nothing to correct the deficiencies all too evident during that tournament in Canada. If anything, the game has fallen further into decline.

With a new season about to begin, now would be a good time to reverse the trend.

If Bermuda can't secure a spot in this year's Caribbean Red Stripe Bowl - and every effort should be made to ensure we can - then opposition of a similar quality needs to be lined up as soon as possible.

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CLEM TALBOT would have us believe that the spectacular growth of the annual charity golf tournament bearing the name of his late father owes everything to the corporate support which seems to increase every year.

And to a certain extent he'd be correct.

But it's not sponsorship alone that's responsible for turning in a matter of ten years what started out as a family golf day into one of the most eagerly anticipated events on the golfing calendar.

Clem himself has been the driving force behind this fairytale success.

While Ross (Blackie) Talbot became a pioneer of Bermuda entertainment, similarly his son has made a lasting impression on the Island's sporting scene, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for local charities in the process.

Some 400 players turned out at Riddell's Bay over two days this week and quite easily that figure could have been doubled had organisers been able to accommodate all those who wanted to play.

Each year the tournament seems to get bigger, brighter and better in every aspect.

This year's masterstroke was to eliminate best-ball play and introduce a Stableford format by which the score of every player in each team was recorded, thus ensuring that the eventual champions' performance was the result of a genuine team effort while at the same time severely restricting the chances of any would-be sandbaggers (players with false handicaps) dictating the outcome.

It's a system other tournaments would do well to follow.