Let me start by apologising to my readers for being so distant during the last few weeks due to my participation with the Bermuda Cricket Board.

I would have loved to have given you first hand information pertaining to the national team but because of my position in the squad as assistant coach some thought it may be a conflict of interest.

However, now that the tournament is over I must say I am angered at some of the material I have been reading.

Well folks there is an old saying, "If you start wrong you will end wrong", and that we did. Losing Delyone Borden on the eve of this tournament was a massive blow and one the team never recovered from. Are the players to blame for that too?

Over the past week several articles have been written out of anger and frustration because we did not qualify. Bermuda, you have the right to be upset because so much money was put into this team but the reality is this team was never a team.

It was two teams within a team, if that makes sense. You had the senior players and those who had been to the previous Cricket World Cup making up one group and then you had the youngsters making up the other group. While the team had several discussions on bonding and uniting once we got on the field, unfortunately it never materialised.

While it would be easy for me to sit here like Gus (coach Gus Logie) and Mr. Pearman (BCB president Reggie Pearman) and blame the players for their lack of passion, desire and pride I can't.

I think that each and every person who was involved with this team must take some responsibility for the team's failure and that includes me.

The problem lies within. See the question I ask is who makes up the team, is it just the players? No! The Bermuda national team consists of the players, the coaching staff, the managers, the selectors and the Bermuda Cricket Board, so let's stop putting the blame on one sector and let's collectively share it.

Having said all of that, I think you, the Bermuda public, have also been a bit harsh with our national coach Gus Logie. Here is a man who four years' ago took this country to the promise land and helped us qualify for our first ever Cricket World Cup.

My, how quickly do we forget! It is so easy to go on a silly talk show with a talk host who knows absolutely nothing about cricket and lambast the team, but the true cricket fans would have some sympathy and remorse because it is a sad day for Bermuda cricket and for Bermuda.

Even professional sports writers got this one wrong.

Cricinfo writer Martin Williamson and Will Luke recently blasted Bermuda with the latter claiming Bermuda lost to eleven refugees. Who looks like the fool now I ask Mr. Will Luke? Your eleven refugees who are Afghanistan in this case have gone on to beat powerhouses Ireland and Scotland. Amazing though, I read every Cricinfo article and nowhere does he blast Ireland or Scotland for losing to eleven refugees.

Some of you make look and wonder how Bermuda could have lost to Afghanistan and UAE, but since which Afghanistan have beaten Ireland and Scotland and UAE have beaten powerhouses Netherlands and Canada.

No, our players did not play up to par, but the reality is that we were not up against any slouches either. Each team in our group was capable of beating any team in the tournament. At the end of the day the Bermuda team did not play to our full potential, but we do not make any excuses.

On an even sadder note, Bermuda lost three heroes at the end of the tournament. Janiero (Tucker), Lionel (Cann) and Sluggo (Dwayne Leverock) all retired from international cricket. It will take a lot to replace these guys but we do have the resources and I want to assure Bermuda the future looks promising providing we put certain things into place.

When you look at the young players who were not at the tournament – OJ Pitcher, Delyone Borden, Chris Douglas and Malachi Jones, just to name a few – Bermuda's future still looks promising.

There is no doubt in my mind that Steven Outerbridge has emerged as Bermuda's best batsman. His batting has blossomed and he has shown the level of professionalism that it takes to be the future leader of this team.

In closing, the most important thing here is that the Cricket Board should have a post mortem so that players can express themselves and we can learn from our mistakes.

Drastic changes have to be made and certain things put in place for our future to be successful. To the players, I say hold your head high for not just any player can say that they have represented their country and to represent your country is an honour and for that I say thank you for trying.

Better luck next time!

Motto for the week: Players win games; teams win championships – Bill Taylor.