Bermuda lose two players to school

Two of Bermuda's youngsters, Malachi Jones and OJ Pitcher, have been forced to pull out of the World Cup qualifiers because of school commitments.

Both played in the 2007 World Cup but are now studying abroad and cannot take enough time off to make the trip to South Africa in April. The top four teams from the event will qualify for the 2011 World Cup in the subcontinent.

"As it stands right now, Malachi and OJ have been ruled out of our World Cup qualifying plans," Arnold Manders, the Bermuda Cricket Board director, told the Royal Gazette. "It's unfortunate but at this time school has to take precedence over cricket.

"They are both in school and the board are going to leave it as it is because they have obligations to fulfil in school. Once they achieve that, we will welcome them back in the programme."

Jones made his mark at the 2007 World Cup when he removed India opener Robin Uthappa with his first ball in the tournament. He also played in last year's Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia.

"They are two exceptionally talented players and I am sure they will be missed," Manders said. "The board want to ensure they get their education first and they still have a long future in cricket ahead of them. We just have to go on with what we have."

Although the loss of the two players is a blow to Bermuda, they recently completed the significant step of introducing professional contracts for the next three months to cover the team's World Cup preparations.

Squad Irving Romaine (capt), Lionel Cann, Dwayne Leverock, Rodney Trott, Chris Douglas, Glenn Blakeney, Tamauri Tucker, Justin Pitcher, Stephen Outerbridge, Stefan Kelly, Jekon Edness, Oronde Bascome, Kevin Hurdle, Kyle Hodsoll, Delyone Borden, Janeiro Tucker, Fiqre Crockwell, David Hemp and George O'Brien.