Cricketers currently serving suspensions have been offered an amnesty by Bermuda Cricket Board of Control, clearing them to play again.

The unprecedented move was initiated by the Board as a "goodwill gesture'' as a result of the "pride'' that has been sweeping the Island since the PLP's General Election victory last month.

"We said to ourselves, `Let's give everyone an opportunity to exhibit this pride, let's remove the bans from all of those who are presently on suspensions as long they were cooperative and they recognise that they were wrong ...' and this applies to any pending suspensions also,'' said Board president and PLP MP El James.

"This sense of new pride has been so infectious that it has swept through the whole Island and what better way to lift all current bans and start afresh in the New Year, with a new spirit and drive to continue working towards getting this great game of cricket back to the high level of the '60s and '70s.'' While James would not be drawn on naming who will be affected by the amnesty, it is known that among the high-profile players serving suspensions are Clay Smith, Richard Basden and Corey Hill.

In the cases of Smith and Basden, the duo's bans are due to end early in the new season -- Smith is believed to still have two matches remaining to sit out and Basden just one.

But on a day when the Board were thrilled to offer an olive branch to the suspended players, James expressed "grave concern'' over public remarks that both Clay and his father Mansfield Smith have made about the player's disciplinary case.

James said that the Board had hoped that the matter had been laid to rest once and for all and noted with disgust that it had been brought up again -- after the player's second appeal had been turned down.

"It should be noted that our goodwill move to lift all of the remaining period of suspensions was made a few weeks ago and I was surprised to read comments that the two wanted to continue to criticise the board,'' said James.

"It is baffling now to see Clay Smith talking about how he has to prove his innocence after everything has been lifted, and for his father to make the statements he did was just as baffling.'' According to James, Clay Smith will have a record because he did wrong and admitted guilt.

"He was guilty of using offensive words on the field of play. The words were offensive. We don't care if he was talking to the umpire, to a fellow player or to himself. He brought the game into disrepute with the remarks he made and the tone he made them in and the volume he used to make them.

"We cannot allow our young players to see this type of behaviour from first of all a senior player, secondly, from the captain of the league champions and thirdly from the Sportsman of the Year. If this is going to be condoned by us then we may as well throw our code of conduct away,'' said the president.

He explained that it was not a matter of the Board having to prove that Clay Smith cursed the umpire because the player had brought the game into disrepute no matter who he was aiming the abuse at.

And the fact that his father failed to take this into consideration proved that he was not responding responsibly when firing his criticism at the Board.

"We have a lot of problems in this society and many of them are brought about because of the lack of parental guidance. We would hope that youngsters in cricket, and in life in general, have proper guidance at home and when they go astray their parents recognise that they have done wrong and chastise them as a result,'' said James.

"It's not love if you support them even when they are wrong, they are only being misguided. And when I see a parent coming forward knowing that their son has done wrong and overlooking that fact, it really upsets me.

"If Clay still feels that he was right then I feel that he is heading for more trouble because if he goes onto the field of play next season and does the same thing then he is going to be dealt with just as swiftly.

"Inappropriate behaviour is inappropriate behaviour, it's not going to be tolerated now or in the future.'' James said he was only offering comments about the matter because the public may have got the impression that the Board were victimising certain players.

He insisted this wasn't the case, claiming that they had been consistent in handling disciplinary matters and were improving on the manner in which they were dealt with by the previous administration.

James said what surprised him was to see Mansfield Smith, himself an active member of the Bermuda Cricket Umpires Association, have the audacity to criticism the umpires.

"It's incredible, why would he want to chastise the umpires simply because it affected him. Many times we can accept decisions if they don't affect us, but I think this to be a bit irresponsible,'' he said.

"I remember once when I made a century and was given out lbw. I stretched down the crease, looked at the wicket and the umpire and then hesitated somewhat before walking off to the pavilion. My dad was waiting for me at the steps of the pavilion steps and I thought he was going to say `great innings'.

But he just looked at me and said: `What took you so long to walk.' "I think, when I look at my brothers and other great players, most of the time it's the deportment on the field that is the great reflection of the responsible attitude instilled in them by their parents and their peers ...

where they have said `yes, it was a tremendous performance, you have done well on the field, however there are certain things that I just cannot condone'.

"And when one is not afraid to tell someone that they love that they have done wrong, that's when you know they are on the right track. And I haven't seen anything where Mansfield said that his son did wrong ... it's all about the Board, the Board. But the Board didn't do wrong, we only did what was necessary.'' "Mansfield Smith needs to sit down with his son, a fine player, and have a conversation to let Clay know that this is the type of behaviour that is expected of him. It's just the proper thing to do.

"If anybody has a gripe against the Board I want them to feel comfortable and approach us because we are reasonable. We will talk to anybody. We are here to promote cricket and promote it in its purest sense.

"Cricket is still a sport of gentlemen and when we find somebody who is not promoting that type of behaviour we are going to deal with them . .. as long as the behaviour is reported by the umpire.'' EL JAMES -- offering local cricket's `bad boys' a second chance.