Welcome to Bermuda, Mark Harper. We have an international cricket tournament on the horizon, a national squad whose No 1 batsman refuses to train, and three candidates for the captaincy who are a mistimed tackle away from being sidelined indefinitely.

Bermuda are supposed to be one of the favourites for the Americas Cup, which will be staged in Argentina from March 9 to 16, but on present evidence – an emergency meeting was held a fortnight ago to investigate the poor response to training – a repeat of the disaster that resulted in an early exit from the ICC Trophy Tournament last summer is on the cards.

Harper, brought in from Guyana after the tenure of Roland Butcher ended in embarrassing fashion, is a frustrated man these days. Is he at the brink? No. But frustrated, yes.

"Most of the guys said they could (train) on a Saturday, just a few said they could not," Harper said this week of the meeting. "Since then we've had maybe a slight improvement, but nothing much to shout about.

"The serious issue in the Island right now is whether some of these people are interested in playing for the country. It is frustrating but this has been the trend in recent times with the preparation of the team, so I've been told, and I also experienced that leading into the ICC tournament."

With Argentina in the midst of their domestic season and Canada and United States having outperformed Bermuda in Toronto last July, it is not beyond belief that Harper's men could finish in the middle of a six-team pack.

"I don't know if the guys just feel that they can turn up two weeks before and think that everything will be all right at the tournament," Harper added. "That was the feeling pertaining to the ICC tournament but I believe that if you don't prepare, be prepared to fail.

"It is disappointing but I always try to look on the positive side. We have a month to go and hopefully we'll have better numbers turning out to practice so we can really prepare properly for this tournament. I think we have a chance of doing well if we put our heads down and prepare properly."

Central to the problems that Harper is experiencing is the lack of commitment from leading players, the most significant being Glenn Blakeney, of St. David's.

After shattering the individual scoring record against Willow Cuts in a league match on August 19, Blakeney declared that he was committed to representing the country for the first time since the ill-fated ICC Trophy Tournament in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 1997. "My main goal now is to represent Bermuda again in the next ICC and hopefully in the World Cup," Blakeney told The Royal Gazette in the August 20 edition. "I think it's up to me, I've just got to take it more seriously. I've had a meeting with El James and he told me he wants me to be part of the national team. I was pleased about that because we've had our differences in the past, but the country is the most important thing and the country should come first."

The left-handed early-order bat was promptly named in the training squad in October for the upcoming venture but, according to Harper, has not attended any of the eight sessions to date and can have no complaints if he gets the chop when the selectors finalise the travelling party for Argentina in the coming weeks.

"Nobody has been axed as yet," Harper said. "We're coming into February so somewhere along the line we would have to cut down the squad. The point is that people have to understand that there is no sense in having someone who has a lot of ability but is not committed to the effort.

"In anything in life you have rules and regulations and people have to comply with that. There seems to be a disregard for that on the island here. People seem to think that because `Mark' is good or `Tom' is good, that he must just walk in the door and play.

"If Blakeney has a problem and would like to discuss it I would certainly be willing to sit down and listen to him. But I am not aware of anything and he was at the meeting (on January 10)! The indication was that he would be out to training soon and even one of the selectors indicated that he would be out to training on Saturday. But I don't know what happened.

"It is not a right to play for your country, it's a privilege. They have far more talented players in other places who can't represent their country. The sad thing about it is that these guys (in Bermuda) have the ability to much better than they're doing. The World Cup is so close and they don't realise it."

Harper said that the lengthy debate over the captaincy has resulted from a lacklustre attitude toward training. Herbie Bascome, Clay Smith, Albert Steede and Janeiro Tucker are in the running to fill the post left vacant after Charlie Marshall was omitted from the training [JUMP]squad.

But the Bermuda Cricket Board of Control has been at such a loss to decide on the appointment that the four candidates will be interviewed.

"The ideal situation would have been for the captain to be named a long time ago," Harper admitted. "But the situation is that the Board feels that at this juncture they should interview some players to see what they have and put over how they would expect that person to conduct themselves and lead. I think that issue will be addressed as soon as (El James, the BCBC president, and Charlotte Simons, the secretary) return from overseas, but some of these guys who have been put forward as candidates have been absent from training as well."

The emotive issue of cricketers playing football so soon before an international commitment has Harper scratching his head also. And, what is more, Bascome, Smith and Tucker are captaincy candidates, who have helped their football teams to reach the FA Cup semi-finals.

To give an impression what Harper has to contend with, Bascome is a leading player for St. George's but is on 37-year-old legs, Smith was kicked `black and blue' as recently as Sunday in North Village's victory over Devonshire Colts and Tucker, who began the season with Dandy Town injured, survived one of the most physical games of the season against Somerset Trojans last week. "Somewhere along the line, if you're going to represent your country nationally, you must show some sort of commitment," Harper said. "From my point of view, I would prefer them not to play football.

"I would hope that Janeiro or any one of the cricketers who play football are not injured, but you have to keep your fingers crossed when these guys play football because they are very, very important members of the team."

© Royal Gazette of Bermuda