January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
BDA on the brink of victory
Logie targets winning Americas’ championship
A series of impressive performances has left Gus Logie's men on the brink of being crowned champions of the Americas.
Victory today over a U.S. side, made up largely of West Indian expats, will see Bermuda winning the tournament with a 100 per cent record.
And coach Logie believes his side are hungry for more.
"Once you have success you want more success. The players have worked hard and they are reaping the rewards.
"The guys are looking forward to the game with much anticipation.
"It's no secret that the U.S. have a team of players from the Caribbean with first class experience and they are playing some young Pakistanis. They've got cricket in their veins.
"But we are confident. If the players follow the processes as they have in the past few games we should be okay."
Logie said winning the Americas' tournament would be the fulfilment of a 'realistic goal'.
"We set out to be champions of the Americas. That's a realistic goal I set before we came out here. If we succeed that will take us further towards our next goal of being champion of the associates at some time in the future.
"We have got to keep having our targets and to keep working towards them. We are in a situation where we can win and we believe in ourselves and our abilities."
But he cautioned against getting caught in the sweep of popular opinion, largely driven by the media, that views every defeat as a disaster and every win as a sign that Bermuda are ready to take on the world's best.
"That's something you in the press have to be careful of, when you have headlines like 'nightmare' or 'disaster' and that kind of nonsense after every defeat. It's a game of sport.
"We'll win some and we'll lose some. But when we lose it's not a tragedy and when we win it doesn't mean we are going to win the World Cup or that we will never lose again.
"The players understand they should not be afraid of success or failure. It's part and parcel of sport and part and parcel of life.
"We don't need to be arrogant or boastful when we win or think it's the end of the world when we lose."
He said he had been pleased with the performances and the maturity shown by some of his players on the current tour.
Of Lionel Cann's scintillating century against Argentina on Tuesday the coach confessed to being as awestruck as the rest of the viewing public.
"It was awesome. If he continues to play like that, he'll be in another league. We always knew he had power and when he adds focus and concentration it makes a huge difference."
Cann has traditionally been Bermuda's finisher coming in to accelerate the run-rate in the last ten overs.
But Logie indicated his destructive talents could be utilized further up the order in future - if he continues to show the desire and ability to build an innings.
The coach is now asking his players to improve their consistency and to keep their performances at a high level.
He praised captain Irving Romaine for being among the runs in every match. But challenged him to improve further.
"Next time if he gets six fifties I'd expect him to get three hundreds," he added.
Logie had not finalized his selection plans for tomorrow's crucial clash with the States - the team Bermuda beat to qualify for the World Cup.
But Cann is expected to be back in the side after sitting out Wednesday's win over Cayman suffering from a back strain.
The game starts at 11.30am Bermuda time. Live updates will be posted on the islandstats website.[[In-content Ad]]
Comments:
You must login to comment.