Eastern Counties is this weekend and one can only wonder what type of crowd will be on hand to witness Flatts play Cleveland for the first time in almost 30 years.

The winners will play Bailey's Bay in the final who will be without suspended Stephen Outerbridge. Bailey's Bay have suspended Stephen for –18 months from the team.

Rumour has it – actually the reason being because of comments which expressed his feelings on the controversy between Bay and St. David's.

Did Stephen not have the right to express his feelings? At the end of the day cricket is the loser.

I happen to be a big fan of Stephen Outerbridge and I too have been in his shoes where speaking the truth has been detrimental to my cricketing experience.

It seems as if very few appreciate when someone exercises their freedom of speech on a topic, if they don't flow with the punches.

Punishing someone who has spoken out with boldness shouldn't result in them being shunned. In this case Outerbridge is being punished for being outspoken about a sport and about a trophy he feels most passionate.

Personally, I feel Bailey's Bay have turned their back on a player who has been loyal to them over the years.

Outerbridge's big heart regarding the game he loves, cricket, will probably put him in similar situations in the future, because there are so many wrong things going on in the sport itself.

He is one of the few players who really cares about what happens to cricket in Bermuda.

He has been punished for trying to mediate a dispute between two clubs.

A historical game, a game whom his forefathers would have been rolling over in their graves had they known what was taking place.

Folks, the reality is what happened in the first Eastern Counties game should never have happened and Outerbridge is being punished for trying his best to save the game and integrity of the Eastern Counties, all because of his love for the tournament.

Here is a refresher of what took place.

Stephen Outerbridge went public to voice his concerns about the Eastern Counties not being played.

Quotes Stephen: "They are taking away a game I love and putting in the Twenty20, it's absolutely ludicrous.

"At the end of the day if St. David's don't play it devalues the whole tournament. If St David's pull out we won't be playing against the true, true champions. Coming down to the 28th we're basically playing someone who has been given the trophy, I'm not playing against the champions.

"I just want the integrity of the tournament to be upheld on the 28th and if that isn't going to happen then we may consider boycotting as well. We want to play against the best, and we want to beat the best. That's our only argument. We want to see a game played."

In Stephen's defence I have to commend him for his love for the Eastern Counties. The fact that he went to St.David's personally to try to persuade them to play is an act of great courage.

Another player who was also punished for his support of captain Stephen Outerbridge is Cory Hill.

Cory has been the backbone of Bailey's Bay's bowling attack for years and went on record to support Stephen's position for Bay and St.David's to play.

"Stephen has brought in thousands of dollars' sponsorship. He's been to executive meetings on behalf of the club. When he was doing all that it was fine, nobody wasn't saying anything," said Hill.

"Now all of a sudden he's not got the right to go and address this issue. Everyone's talking about what this guy done bad, nobody is mentioning about what he has done good for the team. The bad thing he's done is try to get a game played. How bad is that?" said Hill.

As a sports columnist, I am sympathetic to Outerbridge, who now will have to play his cricket somewhere else next year because of his suspension. Bailey's Bay have suspended him, but that doesn't mean he cannot play for another club, yes he can.

This is a personal suspension by Bay not the cricketing body, thus allowing Stephen to play for any other club if he so desires. However, I know it will hurt him to even think about playing for any other club as the only club he ever talks about, laughs about, and would die for, is Bay. In sporting terms, "Stephen bleeds Red and White".

Personally, there is one thing that is bothering me about this whole situation and that is, how do the rest of his team-mates truly feel?

One Bay insider says the team is behind Stephen, but the players were pressured into playing the Twenty20.

If this is truly the case, I openly challenge the players of Bay to show your support for your skipper, because I know if the shoe were on the other foot he would do that for any of you.

I know if I was a player at Bailey's Bay right now what stance I would take, but I will reserve my position out of fear of directing the team.

Any action the players of Bay take should be at their own discretion.

Just to highlight one of Stephen's arguments, "Cleveland are the champions, but was given the trophy, and have not earned it."

So when they received the trophy from the Eastern Counties they couldn't even celebrate it. So at the end of the day come August 28th, Bailey's Bay will not be playing the true champions which makes winning the trophy bitter sweet.

As a cricket lover, and a person who has the utmost respect for Bailey's Bay Cricket Club, I urge and encourage you to come together as one.

This whole situation could have been dealt with differently and I strongly encourage the Bay executives to reconsider their position on Stephen Outerbridge.

This guy loves Bay more then you can ever imagine. Former players of the national team used to joke with him and ask him why he wouldn't play for another club.

His answer was always the same, "You can offer me $10,000 to play cricket somewhere else, but I would never leave Bay". Now that's love and loyalty to the team he grew up with.

If the Eastern Counties would like to rekindle some of the respect that has been lost from this debacle, then I am encouraging them to support one of the greatest players of their historical tournament.

As a body, request a meeting with Bay and show your support for his efforts in trying to get the game played.

Lastly, the game goes on, as no one player is bigger than the game. However, it is also important that we remember that without the players the game cannot be played.

That is why it is important when situations like these arise we do what is best for cricket and not for ourselves.