Often there are times I write my column and worry about what people think or what they will say.

As Bermuda cricket is in the middle of a crisis, I will not sugar coat this one.

It is not my aim to attack anyone, personally or at the club level.

The objective is to identify inefficiencies and weaknesses in order to move forward in the best interest of cricket.

Bermuda, this is a call to all the club executives, players, groundsmen, umpires, scorers, the Bermuda Cricket Board (BCB), coaches and anyone else involved in cricket. The time has come for all of us to either shape up or ship out.

For far too long we have been allowed to settle for mediocrity causing the level of our cricket to plummet to a deplorable level.

Hear this war cry – cricket lovers the time has come where we must be held accountable for whatever part we play in the game.

The fact is, the Government invested $11 million into cricket and our game went backwards!

Something is tremendously wrong. The question is who is to blame? The BCB, clubs, players, umpires, national players, employers, who?

Let's take a look at those who have a direct impact on our cricket and expose where we are going wrong.

Firstly, the club executives have to be better organised and supportive of their cricket programmes. Simple things such as teams being uniformed or having the same cap to field in is a sign of professionalism.

Clubs have to start looking for sponsors so that they can better support their programmes. Also, clubs need to identify ways to motivate their players through incentives.

Prime example: other than Willow Cuts and Southampton Rangers what other club tours overseas regularly, if at all? Clubs have to play their part in communicating with the BCB.

The BCB have been waiting patiently for all clubs to inform them of their pitch location and the opening of their fields and because of this the scheduling process has once again been delayed.

Next we have the players: they are the ones who are responsible for the quality of the game of cricket in Bermuda. Too many of our players are not dedicated to the game. Very few of players train twice a-week and then engage in extras for the benefit of their individual game.

We need players to be more committed and learn more about the game. It is one thing to play the game, but to be a student of the game you have to develop your ability and skills to another level.

Your standards are too low. Lack of training, lack of fitness, lack of passion, not being goal orientated are just a few reasons why the standard is where it is.

Why have the talent and ability if you will not study the game? Critical decision-making depends on you, but if you have no idea how to apply what you know about cricket, then your knowledge is useless.

Players of Bermuda, I want to encourage you to work diligently on improving your game by training a minimum of twice a week. Focus solely on mastering your skill. The future of cricket is relying on you, not the money, but the players. If we are to improve internationally we have to improve our local standards.

Far too many players have a breakdown in communication with the BCB and opt to use the excuse that they are unavailable due to personal reasons. Players have to be open and honest with the Board and explain to them why they are missing tours. I know for a fact in some cases there are personal issues that players have with the Board.

Whether the problem relates to personal vendettas or financial issues, the key is to address it head on instead of withdrawing your services.

Groundsmen: whether you realise it or not you are a critical factor in the game of cricket. The quality of our wickets has to get better if we are to improve as a cricketing nation. In most cases we have very inconsistent wickets making batting difficult and bowling easy, falsifying the ability and quality of our bowlers.

Please take more time in preparing our wickets. To start preparing a wicket on the same day of a game and expect the wicket to be of a high standard is ludicrous.

The process takes a minimum of two days. No more excuses about lack of covers when it rains. The Board bought covers for every club, what did you do with them? Last year Bailey's Bay had without a doubt the best wicket in the Island, because they were prepared.

Umpires, first and foremost we need more of you, not just any umpire, but umpires who know the rules of the game. I urge and encourage former players to give something back to the game they used to love.

In this time of recession umpiring could be your extra cash. It is a straightforward job that offers decent pay. Current umpires, I challenge you to upgrade your skills and take pride in your performance.

Your professional development will only be beneficial to the game of cricket. In some cases I have seen some of the top umpires attend a team training session and get practice in the middle.

Maybe they can arrange to do more simulation conditions out in the middle to help improve the weaker umpires. In particular the LBW rule.

Scorers are vital and every club should have a dedicated scorer. Technology plays a huge part in everything that we do, and with scorers there is no exception.

If that's your desire you can now use computers to score. However, for the most part we use the traditional score books and some scorers take extreme pride in how they score using a variety of colors.

Scoring is something that we neglect to teach our players how to do, but something they should have a general idea about. Start with your juniors.

So where does the BCB fit in with all this? Firstly, it would be unfair to state that the Board has done nothing. They have assisted the clubs with rollers, covers, nets, and other infrastructure items to help their programmes.

While I commend the Board for what they have done there are still areas of concern. Board members need to make themselves more visible at cricket games, i.e. league games, Cup finals, Cup Match, national squad training sessions etc.

Coaches, directors and managers need to be brought up to speed with all the new technology in the sport of cricket. As a country we are being left way behind because we are not being exposed enough to new technology, drills, tactics etc.

Also, the Board has to work with the clubs on a more professional basis. It always amazes me that the league schedule is always late and often issued a week or two prior to the league starting. How is that when there are literally six or seven months between the finish and the start of the next cricket season?

This brings me to the coaches in Bermuda. How many of us take the time out to improve our skills?

There are coaching seminars and videos that coaches can look at to gain valuable experience and knowledge. Do coaches have standards?

Is training mandatory or do coaches allow players to play even though they haven't trained simply because of the status of the player or because they just want to win.

All of this contributes to why we are where we are – poor training habits and politics. As a country our players are not good enough to play and not train. We do not have any superstars.

To all my national squad players you have to set the standard at your clubs. When you are representing Bermuda you always warm-up, so why don't you follow that regime when playing with your clubs? Do you believe that you are that much better than your fellow cricketers? If you are that much better then you should be scoring more runs and taking more wickets. You have to be the trendsetters for the rest of the league to follow.

Lastly, the employers of our players have a major impact on our cricket, maybe not on the domestic scene, but more so internationally.

Why is it that some players are still fighting to have time off from work to represent their country? If players are to have national pride then we need time off from work to be mandatory when representing our country. It should not be a debate.

At the end of the day there are so many issues in our cricket that need to be rectified for our cricket to improve.

I challenge each group of people to take my comments and thoughts as constructive criticism and focus wholeheartedly on improving your area of cricket so that the standard can improve.

The reality is that if we are to compete on the international stage we must first make sure our domestic league is of a high standard, or else we will continue to see the same poor results and wonder why.

Cricket lovely cricket!