HAMILTON, Bermuda, (CMC) – Elliott Wilson, an Englishman who played for county side Worcestershire, has resigned as Bermuda’s part-time director of cricket after a little more than three months.

A former opening batsman, Wilson, 46, had big plans for the Bermuda Cricket Board (BCB) role and was instrumental in the hiring of Niraj Odedra, an Indian, as the new national coach.

But in the week in which the BCB announced that the island had been chosen as the venue for the ICCT20 World Cup Americas Regional Final and the impending return of Odedra with the aim of World Cup qualification, it has been revealed it has lost one of its senior officials.

In a statement to the Royal Gazette newspaper, Wilson, who works in finance and is married to a Bermudian, cited differences of opinion on the direction of Bermuda cricket and possible personality clashes as the main factors behind his decision.

Wilson’s statement read: “I joined the coaching staff of the national men’s team at the start of the 2022 summer and then took on the role of part-time director of cricket a couple of months after that. I stepped down from all roles in mid-October.

“During this time, I obviously got a privileged insight into on-the-field and off-the-field matters as well as attending an entire domestic cricket summer (except when on tour with the national side). I have relayed all of my ideas on how Bermuda cricket should move forward to the president, Arnold Manders.

“Outside of cricket, I have a full-time job and a very young family. Being involved both at training and administration was too much (but very interesting). I have a strong personality, which is a good and bad thing! and how I think things should be structured differed on a couple of fronts.

“I certainly don’t want to burn any bridges with the BCB and cricket, or anyone on the island.”

In response, BCB executive director Cal Blankendal was keen to thank Wilson for his efforts.

“We want to thank Elliott for the time that he served on the Bermuda Cricket Board.

“He did three and a half months of a six-month contract that was due to be reviewed at the end of the year. During this time he was passionate and gave a lot of feedback on our current strategic plan and about how we can achieve our goals and objectives in a practical manner.

“It’s sad that it ended prematurely,” he added.

Odedra’s initial contract of two and a half months expired in September, during which time he presided over the island’s involvement in the third leg of the ICC Cricket World Cup Challenge League B, which was held in Jersey.

Odedra, 47, is now waiting for his work permit to be processed by immigration with the terms of his deal for a return to the island still to be announced.

“We have talked with immigration and are all fine with it,” Allan Douglas, the BCB’s high-performance chairman, said.

“We are happy with what we have to do and sign off on. It’s just a matter of the legal stuff, that’s all.”

Bermuda will launch their 2024 T20 World Cup qualifying campaign when they compete against Bahamas, Belize, Cayman Islands, Panama, Suriname and hosts Argentina in an ICC Sub-Regional Qualifier from February 25 to March 4 next year.

The top-three teams will then be joined by Canada for the Americas Region Qualifier Finals to be held in Bermuda from September 28 to October 8, 2023.

The eventual winner will clinch the last World Cup qualifying spot in the Americas region. The tournament proper will be staged in the West Indies and the United States.