Lloyd Smith was voted in as the Bermuda Cricket Board president last night after defeating lone rival Gershon Gibbons by a vote of 8-5.

Almost three years after losing to outgoing president Lloyd Fray, Smith was elected to the top post, while Gibbons was returned as treasurer. Both will serve a three-year term.

Smith, a former BCB club representative and former president of Devonshire Recreation Club, has vowed to tackle issues such as the BCB’s finances and raising the standard of the game.

“My main concern is the clubs having issues with the financial statements, where the money is going and that’s something we will look to get into as soon as possible,” he said.

“I’m looking to do a three to five-year strategic plan which lays out the domestic game, international game, as well as the youth programmes.

“I’m very interested in having longer cricket seasons and starting cricket in the first week of April.

“It may not be able to happen next year because we will have to work with the Bermuda Football Association to get that done. But I want to see a longer cricket season and playing more cricket, not just on Sundays but Saturdays as well. In the past few years I’ve been involved with Devonshire Rec as well as umpiring, so I’m still around cricket.”

Smith, who is also a match commissioner for the BFA, would like for a similar position to be introduced to cricket in an attempt to raise the level of behaviour among players.

“We need to make the players accountable for their actions during a cricket game, and not leave the responsibility on the umpires to report what is going on.”

Smith is aware of the task that awaits him, but insists he is up to the challenge.

“It’s a very big job, but it’s also the stakeholders’ responsibility, not just the executives,” he said.

“We have to get the clubs more involved as well as the public and the strategic plan is one way I’m looking to do that. Having a buy-in on the strategic plan means that we will have a buy-in from the public as well as the clubs on where cricket should be going.”

Dennis Williams was returned as a club representative along with Wayne Campbell and Allan Douglas, who will serve until next year’s AGM.

Fray, who announced he would not seek a third term at the BCB’s awards ceremony three weeks ago, expressed confidence in Smith’s ability to fill the post.

“Lloyd has such a passion for cricket,” Fray said. “He was on the board when I first came on eight years ago. There are no losers tonight; I said that even when I became president because everyone wants the same thing.

“The biggest challenge I think he’s going to have is getting the alignment with the clubs. The clubs are very critical to our domestic cricket.”

Fray, who served for two terms, cites the highlights of his term as president being the scholarship programme, which was set up to help young players gain opportunities overseas. Delray Rawlins, now at Sussex County Cricket Club, is the greatest example of that.

However, Fray still said he was disappointed at the lack of commitment shown to the national programme.

“You have 22 players in Cup Match but only three or four of those players are representing your country,” he said. “That’s a big problem.”