Bermuda captain Outerbridge ready to take on "non-believers"

Bermuda captain Stephen Outerbridge is ready to take on the country’s “non-believers”.

The Bailey’s Bay batsman posed with the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 3 trophy yesterday as the schedule for the tournament, which will be held on these shores, was unveiled.

The event offers as a first  step towards qualification to the 50-over World Cup in 2015.

Outerbridge believes  playing for Bermuda at  home is a unique challenge, with the players coming under fierce scrutiny from demanding fans.

But he says the team has the backing of “true” fans and the ability to confound the doubters.

He said: “There’s going to be added pressure in front of the Bermuda crowd but we have the experience of playing Cup Match and local derby matches.

“But it’s going to be difficult and there will be challenges I don’t think you experience anywhere else in the world, with the demands that are placed on the players. But I think the guys will be up for it.”

He added: “It would help [to have the crowd behind us] but you always have facets in any country that are non-believers — those are the battles you just have to take on as well. 

“But the true supporters of Bermuda cricket, I’m pretty sure they’ll be out in full force — and we welcome their support.”

Bermuda come off the back of a successful Twenty20 qualifying campaign in Fort Lauderdale as well as a positive three-match 50-over practice series against USA, which saw them finally beat their nemesis in the final match.

Outerbridge was in upbeat mood at Bermuda Cricket HQ yesterday but did warn his players that, mentally, there is still work to do for the team to fully get tuned in to international cricket.

He said: “It was a great experience, it was something I needed and the team needed to be around each other but the thing I feel we need to work on is not too much the skills, I think we all know we have the ability, but it’s what’s on our shoulders that needs some adjusting.

“Too much of the time we take our club mentality to international cricket and that hampers our ability to perform at our optimum peak that we need to compete against international teams.

“I think the standard in domestic cricket is a few stages below international standard and the games we do in domestic cricket [you can] get exposed when you step up to the international stage. My challenge to my team is to adjust the mindset. Hopefully that is taken on board both individually and as a team. The results began to speak for themselves.”

He added: “The momentum after beating the States, it was almost like a block playing against teams that have had better results than us over the past few years, we couldn’t quite get over the hurdle.

“For us to get over the hurdle just shows to many disbelievers that we do have the potential to beat teams that are ranked
higher than us at the moment.”