Hamilton Parish have withdrawn from the cricket league for the 1995 season, club secretary Irving (Coach) Creighton confirmed yesterday.

And the participation of another long serving club, Somerset Bridge, was also in doubt as the Bermuda Cricket Board of Control was left to revise the schedule with less than a week to go before the opening of the new season. The original schedule saw Social Club having a bye and Nationals due to meet Parish on Sunday.

Information coming out of Somerset Bridge was that the Western Counties club is trying desperately to generate enough interest to confirm their place in the league to the BCBC as soon as possible. If, like Parish, they are forced to withdraw it will leave the league with 15 teams.

Parish's programme has fallen apart in the last few years, through a combination of the success of their neighbours Bailey's Bay, the lack of a viable youth league and the subsequent decline in interest in the game among local youth.

Their decision to pull out of the league was forced on Parish by the departure of some key players which left them struggling to generate sufficient interest. Even so, the club is confident they can turn things around and return to the league for the 1996 season.

"From a management point of view we have a pretty good cricket programme but the players are not prepared to commit,'' Creighton stated.

"We hope to reconstruct and hopefully have a team by next summer. We feel confident we can do it if we get players to play with community pride.'' Creighton said he has seen a steady decline in the programme for the last three years, around the same time that senior players Terry Burgess and Ricky Hill were returning to neighbouring club Bailey's Bay. Bay's success at winning the league last season has further set back Hamilton Parish who stood to lose more players to their more successful rivals.

Even hiring coaches like Shiraz Ali and Lee Raynor did little to revive things at Parish as the club often struggled to field a team late in the season.

"I disagree with a lot of people in Hamilton Parish who say that we can't have two teams in the area,'' said Creighton, a player with the club for over 20 years up to his retirement about three years ago. He is now one of the administrators trying desperately to halt the slide of the club's sports programme in general.

"I'm drained,'' he conceded. "What really happened is a lot of ex-players don't put that much back into the game. The standard has dropped and has never been uplifted.'' Creighton, a wicketkeeper, remembers being a part of a successful team at Parish that included the likes of Clarence Parfitt, Sheldon Furbert, Rupert (Nick) Hollis, Larry Smith and Mervin Warner. But things are not like they used to be.

"The bottom line is the players in the area lack community pride,'' said Creighton. "The majority of our transfers are not even to Bailey's Bay. Of the six transfers, five are going to Somerset, so obviously they are looking to play Cup Match.'' Ironically, the decline of the cricket team comes at a time when there is strong talk of the soccer team being boosted by the return of a number of players. In just a few short years the team has gone from a First Division team, good enough to qualify for the Dudley Eve in 1991-92, to one languishing near the bottom of the Second Division.

"From my understanding there are a number of players interested in returning so soccer might get back on a better track than it has been since we were relegated,'' said the secretary.

"That is something that will be worked on this summer. We have to get players in the community to be involved in the community and that is what makes any community strong. We intend to combine a committee to look into the overall cricket and soccer programmes for 1996.'' During the days of the Shell Youth League, the parish team of Hamilton Parish, which included Bailey's Bay, was one of the most successful teams.

"With the Shell competition there was sufficient players for both clubs and we didn't have a major problems with the youngsters playing for either of the clubs. The board has been held responsible for a lot of youth programmes that have not taken place.'' Added Creighton: "To be frank I think youngsters are looking for a faster-paced cricket game and cricket is not a first priority. It's discouraging to a lot of ex-players like myself to know that we do not have a team this year.

"When people talk about what Hamilton Parish has to offer, we have the availability of Shelly Bay field, one of the largest fields on the Island and when players do not train there it shows there is no commitment. Government has given us first priority to use Shelly Bay field and we just can't seem to get the players.''