Fellow Bermudians, no one was as pleased as I when it was announced that Bermuda would be playing Scotland here in July in the Intercontinental Cup four-day game.

Prior to playing Scotland, Bermuda will have to go to Toronto to play Canada in a few One-Day Internationals. In an effort to form a strong team, the selectors have this week chosen an additional ten players for the training squad. It is my hope that these players will commit to the opportunity to train and play for Bermuda, as representing your country is an honour and a privilege.

Over recent times, several players have opted not to train or play for Bermuda. Several members of the public have scrutinised the selectors for not selecting their heroes or giving various players a second chance. Well Bermuda, it's now or never as practically all of our top players have been included and only time will tell whether or not they take up the challenge.

Playing for your country is the ultimate achievement in any player's career. Our players have to learn the true meaning of national pride.

When you look around the world, people are dying for their country because of their country pride and here we are struggling to field a team because of players' lack of country pride.

I urge these players to put the past behind them and make a fresh start. We have to remember that just next year Bermuda will attempt to qualify for the Cricket World Cup again. So as I used to say when I was playing with St.David's "the time is now".

In one of my recent articles I mentioned that the two major reasons why Bermudian players are currently not playing for the squad are drugs and money.

However, the one other key reason that I failed to address is a player's lack of courage, or fear of failing.

A few years ago I recall Somerset having some one-day games at Somerset against Barbados when Tino Best was in the visitors' team, bowling around 90 mph. Several of the Somerset Cup Match players opted out of the one-day games and I was asked to play as a guest player.

Then as recently as a year or two ago we had Clico Presal here with another quickie in the team, Ravi Rampaul, playing a Bermuda Select at the NSC. Once again several players were asked to play and many turned down the invitation.

So with Scotland coming to our shores, I await with great anticipation who makes themselves available and who does not. The mentally tough players who love to play in front of their home crowd will show up, but those fearing the possibility of being labelled as only a domestic player will be among the missing.

The fact that we are playing on home soil eliminates all of the work commitment excuses - the only reason not to play would be that they are not interested.

Maybe this will finally switch the focus from the selectors to the players themselves, and their lack of desire, or unwillingness to train.

I truly hope you as players understand what is at stake. Bermuda's future lies in your hands. As cricketers you have a duty to ensure that Bermuda cricket maintains its One-Day status, which will ensure us a bright future and international exposure.

Last week I put forward a "what if" question for the public and I will share with you the best reply. First, to give you the question again: What if you are coming in to bat and the game is on the line. The player that is in has 75 runs and there are still 20 runs to get with three overs to go and three wickets in hand, how do you handle the situation?

Jahmiko Marshall replied: "Personally, if I was put in a situation like that, one of the first things I would be looking to do is to rotate the strike and get the set batsman the strike. The set batsman has been at the crease for a while and is seeing the ball well and has the bounce and speed of the pitch down. On the same token if the bowling is slack, I would also look to put the bad balls away."

This week's "what if" question is this.

Suppose you are bowling in a one-day game and after 20 overs the score is 80 for two and you have bowled five overs for 10 runs with no wickets. Your captain decides he want to take you off the ball. Do you allow him to do that or do you try to convince him to let you bowl straight out?

Again feel free to reply to claysmith60@hotmail.com as I am aiming to enhance player knowledge of the game.