With barely two weeks remaining before the start of the 1995 cricket season some clubs still find themselves struggling to raise a team.

Just last week the probability of Somerset Bridge not being able to take part was revealed, and now Hamilton Parish are on a sticky wicket, unsure whether the club can muster enough players.

Hard hit by an exodus of cricketers, including leading attack bowler Chris Caisey, and general disinterest, Parish officials yesterday were pessimistic about their chances of being involved when the league campaign gets underway on April 16.

"I don't know if we'll be having a team, the players have lost interest I guess,'' said cricket committee chairman Kent Gibbons. "The young people around today have not got any interest in playing cricket.

"Ever since we lost Shell (as a sponsor for the youth programme) it's been this way, the young are more into soccer.'' Gibbons' sentiments were shared by vice-president Ernest Latham, who said: "I'm trying to find out now what's going on, but it doesn't look good at all.'' Caisey and four other team members are believed to have transferred to Somerset, while two more have gone elsewhere, decimating the ranks and leaving officials scrambling to find replacements. But with no junior pool to draw from, the situation appears bleak.

Left as distant memories are the days when the now legendary Clarence Parfitt performed his magic with the ball for Parish. Parfitt got his start at the Crawl Hill club, playing for them during the 1960s.

But in recent times the club has watched as its cricket programme has fallen apart.

Both Parish and Bridge appear to be victims of the lack of an organised junior programme over the past four years, with no younger players coming through to fill gaps left after others moved on.

Some have blamed Bermuda Cricket Board of Control's failure to address and promote cricket among the Island's youth, which has contributed to a sharp decline in the popularity of the sport.

Bridge president Kenneth Simmons explained the situation as one where cricket was simply losing out to other, faster paced games.

"The younger lot want to play short games like basketball and are getting more into the American sports and the traditional soccer which is world-wide, said Simmons during an earlier interview. "They don't seem as interested in something that goes on all day...''