ON CRICKET

Bermuda has an amateurish attitude towards sport. If you train like amateurs, you'll play like amateurs and that's why we are continually getting slapped!

I'm not just criticising the players here. This mentality of apathy has reached right up to Board level.

When I watched the Stanford 20/20 tournament, what struck me most was how fat and unfit our guys looked.

People wonder why we are not fit enough. Well it's because there is no full-time expert professional trainer whipping these fat boys into shape.

This is where Gus Logie is certainly failing and making a huge, huge mistake.

If you want to play with the big boys then do it properly - don't go about it like a bunch of amateurs!

By letting these players off the hook with being fat and overweight, Gus has shown that he's also an amateur in his approach to fitness.

Don't get me wrong, I think Gus is a very good coach but he needs to wake up. There's no way some of these guys should be representing their country in their physical condition.

Sluggo did a decent job for us at the World Cup and helped put Bermuda on the map, but he shouldn't have even been there in that condition.

When we qualified 18 months prior he should have been given an ultimatum to either 'shift your weight or don't play'. Instead, Gus let him off the hook.

The same goes for Clay Smith with his knee injury. If he wasn't fully fit then he should not have gone to the 'big show'.

There's no room for sentiment or friendships when you're making these kind of important decisions I'm afraid.

As for the women cricket team's showing at their World Cup qualifiers - it was an absolute disaster. But they need to start somewhere. And yes, the Under-19s didn't probably achieve the results people were looking for at the World Cup.

But because we've reached a World Cup at Under-19 and senior level expectations have risen and we need to keep things relative. If they have gone there and given 100 percent, responded to the coaches, and have been beaten by better cricketers, then so be it.

Cricket's gone backwards on this Island since our tour of Kenya in 1994. Back then I had the privilege of training that team and it was one of the best teams to ever leave this Island.

Unfortunately there were only three World Cup spots available and we finished fourth and didn't qualify.

During that tour we had trainers, managers but no coach. Our coach Michael Holding chose to cover the West Indies on Sky Sports because the BCB obviously didn't match what they were paying him. That was a huge mistake and blow for us.

But we did send Bangladesh packing in the first round. They're a Test playing nation now and where are we?

Not qualifying set Bermuda cricket back ten years. The BCB took a gamble on that team making it and it backfired because there wasn't a good enough youth structure in place.

The BCB put everything into us qualifying for the World Cup and as a result junior cricket had fallen by the wayside. The BCB took the gamble we would qualify and it backfired.

So was it great we qualified for the World Cup in 2007? No, we haven't improved one bit since 1994. In fact, on paper we've gone backwards. All these people jumping and humping around shouting 'we went to the World Cup', well, it's absolute garbage!

The truth is the cricketing environment in Bermuda is not conducive for nurturing young talent. If guys like Malachi Jones or Rodney Trott are actually serious about making it, then their chances have been long gone by now.

ON FOOTBALL

I was surprised to learn of Kenny Thompson's return to the national team set-up. How many times is Kenny Thompson going to be involved with the national team? The man's never finished a job he started in his life! He has a history of giving up.

The best coach on this Island by far and away is Andrew Bascome - he's in a different league to anyone else.

This country needs to realise he should be made national coach. He should purely concentrate on playing matters and not be allowed to deal with the media etc.

His number two, say a Clyde Best, could take care of all other matters like team organisation and dealing with the press.

Andrew needs to be given his chance. All you need to do is make a deal with him to cover up his dreadlocks when he's on the bench. I'm sure he would love to do the job and would accept in a second.

The Bermuda Football Association are daft for not offering him the job his talent deserves.

Changes need to be made at the BFA. Why do we need a general secretary? And why is the president of the BFA not a paid person responsible for running the BFA on a full-time basis? He should not be a senator or a lawyer.

Some of the guys at the BFA have been there too long and have gone stale. There needs to be a real shake-up.

I think the emergence of Bermuda Hogges is excellent for the Island. But I think Shaun and Kyle are stuck between a rock and a hard place. They want to keep Hogges' players Bermudian, but to be honest they need to have three or four foreigners in the team.

They have publicly said they will do it eventually and in my opinion they must. People who balk at the idea of Hogges fielding foreign players need to wake up and stop being so naive.

My question to the Hogges is what is their long-term goal? If they want to get out of the USL-D2 then they will never do it with solely with local players. It just won't happen.

They will stay there forever and eventually the Bermudian public will become even more apathetic than it already is and will stop attending matches. Then the sponsors will withdraw.

Sure, the Hogges want to help Bermudian football and provide a vehicle for local players to improve, but it's also a business and mark my words they will give the local guys two years to show what they can do and then make changes. They will quite simply have to.

ON GOVERNMENT FUNDING

The Peter Brombys, Paula Lewins, Tyler Butterfields, Flora Duffys have to maintain a certain standard in order to receive grants from the Bermuda Olympic Association (BOA).

Now that doesn't happen in football and cricket - they're just dishing out huge amounts of cash willy-nilly.

Peter Bromby is ranked fourth in the world and he has to apply, send his results in and write letters. Please tell me the last time a footballer or cricketer in this country has had to do anything like that.

They have problems just showing up for training. No one seems to be being held accountable and responsible in this country and everyone is too willing to pass the buck.

There are 43 governing bodies for sports in Bermuda.

Divide that number into the annual budget and it just doesn't work. We have to have four major sports for men, three major sports for women and two crossover sports.

They should get all Government funding. For those who want drive around in a go-kart on a Sunday afternoon, well, you'll just have to raise the money yourself.

Unless we do that, we won't achieve real sustained success in any sport. That's why we don't go anywhere and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work that out!

Interview by Steve Wright