Barring miracles, Bermuda’s World Cup journey is all but over.And unless the players can defy the odds and defeat Bangladesh in their final group game on Sunday, the results of their first foray into cricket at the highest level will have been no better than anybody expected.

Ireland have silenced the naysayers with two outstanding performances to seal an unlikely place in the Super Eight and Bangladesh themselves pulled off something of a mild surprise by beating India, but by and large this World Cup has so far very much followed the form book.

Bermuda have suffered the heaviest and third-heaviest losses in tournament history and while the other ICC Associate nations might have avoided such huge margins of defeat, they haven’t fared a great deal better.

If the enormous gap between the so-called minnows, in particular Bermuda, and the Test countries is to diminish before the next World Cup in four years’ time it’s clear an awful lot has to change.

From Bermuda’s limited pool of players, it’s unrealistic to think we could ever seriously challenge the game’s big guns.

But there are many who believe we could acquit ourselves an awful lot better than has been the case here in Trinidad.

It’s difficult to criticise the players or the coaches, who in every match, every net session leading up to this tournament have shown 100 percent commitment — blood, sweat and, yes, even tears.

What they’ve lacked in talent and basic fitness, they’ve attempted to make up for in other areas.

But the gulf in class between them and their opposition has been almost mind-boggling. Watching our bowlers get repeatedly smacked into the stands by India’s big-hitters and five of our batsmen trudge back to the pavilion without even getting off the mark wasn’t a pretty sight.

And the only way that gulf is going to be reduced is by playing more frequently against these same top players.

India captain Rahul Dravid couldn’t understand when questioned at a press conference earlier this week why, considering Bermuda’s location, the national team hadn’t been able to entertain more quality opposition either on their way into or out of the Caribbean.

Teams such as India, he pointed out, would be delighted to include a stop-off in Bermuda on any West Indies tour itinerary.

Of course, such whistlestop trips have occurred in the past, but what Dravid didn’t realise is that Bermuda remain the only country at this World Cup who can’t produce a single wicket capable of hosting a first-class match.

Here in Trinidad there are dozens of pitches which put ours to shame. It was the same in tiny St. Vincent where Bermuda played their warm-ups.

While we’ve invested $11 million in the development of cricket, sent our players all around the world, we’ve done absolutely nothing in the two years since qualifying for the World Cup to produce the sport’s most basic facility.

Sports Minister Randy Horton refused to accept that as an excuse for the team’s recent performances. And to some extent he’s correct.

But looking to the future, it has to be an absolute priority over the coming months to sort out just what is required — whether it be the importation of better soil or the use of glue which experiments have shown can produce an acceptable wicket.

And such a facility isn’t required solely at the National Sports Centre. We need decent pitches at all of our club grounds if the youngsters upon whom the future of the sport rests are to prepare themselves for the enormous challenge that awaits on the international stage.

What this World Cup has shown is that for all of Government’s financial backing, for all of Bermuda Cricket Board’s meticulous planning, costly overseas tours, training camps and exposure to high performance academies, it wasn’t enough.

If we’re ever going to hold our own at World Cup level, then we need to get things right in our own back yard.

* * * *

OTHER than the obviously distressing results, if there’s been a blot on Bermuda’s copybook in the last week it has been the mysterious one-match suspension of Saleem Mukuddem for the clash against India — a game the all-rounder desperately wanted to be a part of, his father being of Indian descent.Mukuddem has been one of the side’s most consistent performers throughout the entire campaign, he took the team’s first-ever World Cup wicket and returned more than respectable figures in the opening match against Sri Lanka.

So why was he suspended? — a fact that only emerged during a post-match press conference and not through, as one might have expected, an official announcement from the BCB, who seemingly would have preferred to have kept the whole matter a secret.

All we’ve been told is that he contravened the code of conduct by failing to attend a team meeting. Nothing more.

Clearly there was a reason why he didn’t attend that meeting, and clearly Mukuddem would like to tell his side of the story, which he can’t for fear of further disciplinary action.

But if the BCB want to play on the world stage, perhaps they need to start acting accordingly — in the same professional manner as other countries.

When England’s Andrew Flintoff was stripped of the vice-captaincy and suspended and other team members disciplined for a similar late night drinking binge, at least the England authorities made the announcement at a specially-convened press conference and afforded Flintoff the opportunity to have his say.

Our boys at the BCB wouldn’t dream of such openness - $11 million of public money or not.

Mukuddem may well have stepped out of line but did the punishment fit the crime and was the reason the BCB chose to not to divulge any more details that they realised they’d over-reacted?

Perhaps not. But without a full explanation, we don’t know.

Of course, at some point after this World Cup the full facts will emerge. And the public can then make up their own minds — which they should have been able to do this week had the BCB come clean.

- ADRIAN ROBSON

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