Bermuda call for patience

Although still recovering from his recent heart bypass surgery, Reginald Pearman, the Bermuda president, has expressed his disappointment over his country's three successive defeats to Kenya in the recent one-dayers.

"Well as you can imagine I haven't been much in touch with what went on in Kenya other than getting the news that we lost all three matches," he told The Royal Gazette, "and of course that was news that was rather disappointing.

"I feel that what the players have to realise is that they have to work harder to acclimatise themselves as quickly as possible when they go to play in other countries. They have to realise that they are on the big stage now and must be prepared for whatever hurdles are placed in front of them."

El James, the former board president, echoed Pearman's comments while adding that a level of understanding was needed by the public and media.

"The local cricket fraternity has to remember that we are going through something we have never experienced before, the players are going to strange countries far from home, leaving their friends, families and loved ones and eating new foods, adjusting to new surroundings and playing on wickets that are different," James said, responding to comments made last week by Martin Williamson, Cricinfo's Managing Editor.

"It's a huge adjustment to their whole lives and it takes a while for them to settle down and deal with these changes - so to be honest it's unfortunate when a harsh judgement is made," he said. "We actually need to turn our game around, especially when the thinking of some in the world is that we are going in the opposite direction after qualifying for the World Cup.

"We need match-winners - look at Kenya's Steve Tikolo - he was always playing a spear-header's role and in return who did we have - nobody really.

"We lack a match-winner in bowling and batting, nobody is a threat in these respective departments and this is not good. If we had one or two individuals who can come up with a century and a few fifties and a couple of bowlers who can capture several scalps in a game on a consistent basis then we could look forward to a few successful results. But without any semblance of consistency it's only going to get harder."

Meanwhile the assistant coach, Herbie Bascome, insists the players desperately need to toughen their resolve mentally if they are to find success.

"I definitely feel this team has much more to offer than we're offering now," he said. "But what's happened may have a lot to do with coming to Africa, a different environment, a different culture, because we're getting more experiences than just cricket," he said. "The cricket is at the highest level but when you come to Africa you're coming to a place where you've always wanted to visit because you've read so much about it. You know, maybe the players weren't in the right frame of mind to play cricket.

"Mentally, if we decide we're going to play this game we have to get tuned in. The most important thing is being able to think your way out of situations. When we realise the importance of the mental part of the game, then we'll get better."