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Bermuda’s pre-World Cup fixture schedule has been finalized with a series of one-day international tournaments against the likes of Zimbabwe, Kenya, Canada and Holland set for the coming year.

There will be no visit from India, as had been suggested, and none of the elite Test nations will be playing Bermuda.

But Gus Logie's men will compete in at least 18 full one-day internationals between now and the start of the World Cup.

The International Cricket Council yesterday released a full programme of one-day games for the six associate countries, which also includes Ireland, Scotland, Holland, Kenya and Canada.

The game's world governing body has been working on the schedule since the qualification tournament in Ireland last summer in a bid to help make the cricket minnows competitive at the World Cup in 2007.

After a training camp in Trinidad in March Bermuda will take on Canada and Zimbabwe in a triangular tournament between May 16 and 20.

It had been hoped the tournament could be hosted in Bermuda but doubts remain over the suitability of the facilities on the island for hosting top class cricket.

A more likely venue is the West Indies where Zimbabwe will be on tour at that time.

Next up is a triangular tournament in Canada in August, timed to coincide with the teams’ four-day clash in the Intercontinental Cup.

Kenya will also take part in the tournament.

Next stop for Bermuda is Kenya in November, where they will play three one-day games against the Africans as well as their four-day Intercontintel Cup clash.

Then they will travel to South Africa to play Canada and Holland, who they also meet in the four-day competition.

After a brief Christmas break it's back to Kenya for the World Cricket League Division One tournament where they will play the Canadians, the Dutch, the Kenyans, the Irish and the Scots.

Their final set of one-day games will be in the West Indies where they will meet Canada again and Bangladesh, one of the sides they have been drawn against in the World Cup.

Neil Speight, chief executive of the BCB, said the schedule when combined with the World Cricket 20/20 Classic in April, the Stanford 20/20 competition in July and the series of four-day games for the Intercontinental Cup, left few gaps.

A development XI is also expected to travel to England and Guernsey in May for a brief tour.

“This is the first time we’ve been able to confirm the schedule. I've been working on this with the ICC and the other associate members since we qualified.

“I’m very pleased with the result. I think it’s good for Bermuda cricket. There has been a lot of input from Gus (Logie) and it has been cricket driven from the start.

“We’ve got a balance of training camps, one-day internationals, 20-20 games and four-day games and don’t forget we’ve got a domestic season as well.

“We are pretty excited. Gus is happy with what we've got from a cricket point of view.”

He said fans should not be concerned that Bermuda wasn’t playing England, Australia or any of the top nations in world cricket, as there would be more fixtures beyond the World Cup.

There were a couple of gaps in the schedule for June, September and October, which could yet be filled with friendly games, he added.[[In-content Ad]]

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