Will he or won't he? The `he' is current Bermuda Cricket Board of Control president El James.

The question is whether he will seek another term of office as the man at the helm of local cricket.

With the BCBC's annual general meeting fast approaching James was recently asked whether he would stay in office. And while it may be ludicrous to think of the situation as anything other than a fait accompli , James yet played his cards close to the vest.

"We will have a meeting to discuss the intentions of all executives, and I will have to talk to the rest of my executive regarding my position first and not pre-empt anything there, so you'll have to see what happens,'' said James during a recent interview.

"The press is invited (to the AGM) ... we don't have anything to hide.'' James, who took over the post of president back in 1997 following the resignation of Ed Bailey, was not reluctant, however, to note his pleasure as to the direction the game is going, especially on the international front, with Bermuda set to host the Americas regional under-19 tournament in August, travel to Canada for the ICC Trophy, and also participate in an under-15 international competition.

The former top allrounder has also moved to employ a full-time national coach for the first time in several years, with former England middle-order batsman Roland Butcher installed in the post.

However, he longs for the day that players are able to prepare for such ventures using a purpose-built facility.

"What I would like to see done here is for cricket to have its own training facilities and its own home, so that our national squad doesn't have to run all over the country trying to prepare themselves for national commitments,'' said James.

"But I feel cricket is on its way. It's going to be a slow process and it doesn't mean we're going to become instant winners overnight, but as long as we can see progress we'll be satisfied.'' Financially the organisation appears on solid footing. Aside from the annual Government grant, James and his team have been able to coerce substantial amounts out of the corporate community to support several projects.

"When we came in we found a bit of debt, but we've managed to get ourselves clear,'' said James."We are economising, we use our Government grant wisely, and we do get some assistance from the corporate community and we do welcome any assistance we can get from the corporate community.

"It's just a matter of budgeting and living within our budget. We can use all types of funds, but we have to live and work according to what we have.

"We're not in debt anymore, but we can still use a little funds to assist our development programme.'' All executive positions will be up from grabs at the meeting, which takes place at Warwick Workmen's Club next Tuesday at 7.30 p.m.