Lionel Cann believes Irving Romaine was allowed to continue as Bermuda skipper to the detriment of the team and should have been relieved of his captain's duties long ago.

Cann yesterday lifted the lid on Romaine's two-year struggle to inspire the dressing room during his dismal batting slump that culminated in Bermuda's relegation from the ICC Intercontinental Cup in April.

And Cann has laid the blame firmly at the feet of the Bermuda Cricket Board (BCB) who he accused of taking an ostrich-like stance in ignoring the warning signs of Romaine's confidence crisis in the run-up to the failed World Cup qualifying bid.

"Over the last two years we've seen Irving's form with the bat dwindle as a result of him being captain," said Cann, who retired after the qualifiers in South Africa along with Janeiro Tucker and Dwayne Leverock.

"But the powers that be let the situation get out of hand and seemed scared to make a long overdue change.

"The coaches could see it (the captaincy) was affecting him, the players could see it and the public could see it, but still they stuck with him. It wasn't his fault and I'm sure he believed he could battle through his bad patch.

"Before South Africa there were bonding problems in the dressing room but the board kept saying everything was fine. It wasn't and they were in denial. This was not the team that qualified for the World Cup in 2005."

Earlier this week The Royal Gazette revealed David Hemp would captain Bermuda in their four matches against Uganda at the National Sports Centre and replace Romaine, who led the Island to the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean.

Without the burden of captaincy, Cann is adamant the popular middle-order batsman will finally be able to reignite his form with the bat and help in Bermuda's long climb back to cricketing respectability.

"The truth was we desperately needed Irving to rediscover his form with the bat," Cann said. "He's a top player but he wasn't the Irving we knew. He became a scapegoat and lost his confidence and the players therefore lost confidence in him as a leader.

"We're in a transitional phase now and Hemp is simply the only man who can do the job in the short-term.

"He has the common sense and the cricketing brains, and I'd like to see him groom a younger player to succeed him in two years time."

Cann insists he was the obvious candidate to takeover from Romaine following Bermuda's catastrophic defeat against Guyana at the Stanford 20/20 tournament in November, 2008, when he first applied for the captaincy.

He again expressed his interest in Romaine's position at the start of the year but on both occasions his overtures were overlooked by the BCB, who Cann claims failed to even respond to his letters.

"Captaining your country is not an easy job but I thought I was the right man," said Cann, who stood down as St.George's Cup Match skipper after retaining the trophy last week.

"I wrote to the Bermuda Cricket Board (BCB) on two separate occasions expressing my desire to be captain.

"I went through all the correct procedures, followed the rules and out of loyalty informed Irving of what I was doing. But I was ignored and they didn't even warrant me an interview. I didn't get one reply. Was it personal? It was must have been. What else could have it been?

"It hurt me deeply as I felt I'd proven my worth as a captain.

"As a young and inexperienced player people often labelled me as rude, but over the years I matured as a person and as a player. I felt I had been groomed to be the captain of my country. I think it will always bother me that it never happened."