The home of cricket beckons for rising stars OJ Pitcher and Chris Foggo. The youngsters, the best prospects to come out of Bermuda for some time, are set for trials Middlesex.

Both Pitcher and Foggo have been taken on by Pyford Cricket Club in Surrey, currently under the stewardship of former Bermuda national team coach Roland Butcher.

Pyford play in the Fuller's Brewery Surrey County League but Butcher, whose tenure in control here ended abruptly last year just a few months into his contract, also has close ties with Middlesex, a team he represented for two decades.

Foggo is currently in South Africa where he is attending the Port Elizabeth Cricket Academy on a 14-week course. But his return to the Island will be brief as Butcher intends to fly him to England by April 18th.

"While I was in Bermuda as coach I obviously got to see Chris and OJ," explained Butcher. "They impressed me as promising young cricketers." Each caught his eye in a different way, the coach said.

"OJ is an all-rounder and he struck me as a youngster as pretty mature for a chap his age and really seemed to have a good head on his shoulders. He is obviously very talented," he said.

"I think Chris is just as talented but perhaps needs to work a bit harder at his game than OJ. But there was certainly some raw material there."

"I won't rush them. I will let them get here, settle in and get used to the conditions. I will monitor that situation and then tell John Emburey and Middlesex when I think they should come."

As a top county side, Middlesex see a great many triallists and only a small percentage ever get taken on. However, Butcher said he hoped to also encourage other clubs to look at the pair, just in case Middlesex say 'no'.

Butcher said he believed, all things being equal, both Pitcher and Foggo would play at a high level some day.

"I think they can be very good if they put their minds to it," he said. "At the end of the day talent is important but it is not the deciding factor in whether you make it or not – hunger is the deciding factor. You can have all the talent in the world and no hunger to succeed and never make it or you can have less talent, be very hungry and make it.

"So, at the end of the day, it is going to be down to the two individuals. I will give them the opportunity, I will help them as much as I can and obviously I will be coaching them as well but, at the end of the day, how hungry they are will decide how far they go."

© Royal Gazette, Bermuda