January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
Straight off the bat/ A player's perspective
Extra sessions are helping improve my game
The team goes through a World Cup mock run from the hotel to the stadium
In his second weekly column Lionel updates Bermuda fans on life at the training centre in Couva, the team spirit in the camp and talks about his first century of the season.
The Training Centre
Rain has kept us off the field and in the nets for most of this training camp in Trinidad. But in a lot of ways it has been a blessing in disguise.
The national cricket centre here in Couva is a great facility. It's allowed the team the opportunity to really work on fitness and concentrate on improving the game in the nets.
The facility is in the middle of nowhere, everything is cricket, cricket, cricket, which has kept the team focused.
It is a very good place to bond as a team because the squad is living together in 12 dorm rooms.
The team has even done work in the nets after midnight, just trying to get in extra sessions.
The whole team is doing extras to get in shape. The training facility has a built-in gym and the squad is spending a lot of time in there on top of what it has to do with the physio.
He has us out there from 6am until 8am every morning. It is a bit like the Regiment, but it's fun. The team is enjoying it and working hard to get into shape.
It's non-stop in the nets, Herbie Bascome has picked up the nickname 'the bowling machine' because he's always there, ready to help.
It's the perfect, perfect remedy, because it allows a player to get so many balls and develop the right routines.
Herbie's always willing to go in the nets and work with the players and offer his advice and push until it's right.
Just this morning (Monday) the team spent an hour-and-a-half in the nets working on this one little thing, and he made me do it again and again until I got it right.
It's nice to get match practice and the team does need to spend some time in the middle but in some ways it has been a blessing that the squad have been able to spend more time away from the pitch.
There are two more games arranged before the team comes home and hopefully they'll come off so all the net work can be put into practice.
Facing the speed demon
I faced the bowling machine at 87mph for the first time on Monday.
It was not easy, but it was not too hard, because of the extra work I'd been doing with Herbie.
I was able to get in position and get behind the ball even at that speed.
I've never really faced anything like that pace on the pitch. When the team played Scotland John Blaine (DP) and Dougie Brown were putting it in around 85mph and I got hit on the head trying to hook John Blaine, but I don't see many bowlers at that speed at Associate level. Even at the very top level there aren't many bowlers putting it in at 87mph plus. It's nice to know that I can handle it, if I have to come up against a bowler at that speed.
Working with a legend
Larry Gomes (the great Trinidadian middle order batsman) has been helping coach out and working on some things with the squad.
He's a very quiet guy, very down to earth. He's a philosopher kind of guy - very humble in the way he speaks to you.
He makes me want to do things. When he speaks I want to listen. He's been working on the mental side of the game, helping the team prepare for that angle of it.
He told the squad to keep about keeping the mind balanced - every ball is different. He said that if you get a ball and it beats you, forget about it, it's gone, focus on the next ball. He's been a blessing to have around.
Opening with a century
Bermuda did get one opportunity out in the middle last week and it was satisfying to start 2007 with a century, even if the game (against W Connection Wanderers ) was ultimately rained off.
It was great that coach gave me the responsibility to open.
I was supposed to bat four but the weather meant it was a 30-over game with 12 overs of fielding restrictions so I was pushed up the order at the last minute.
I took my time and played my shots when I had the opportunity. Looking back I think that was my second century in five innings for Bermuda, which was excellent for me.
Coach was mad at me for getting out (on the last ball before rain stopped play). He told me I should have been able to go on and get 200.
I was seeing the ball well and I was hitting it nice. As the player that was in, it was my responsibility to stay there and get a big score rather than another guy having to come in and play himself in.
Once you lose one wicket you can lose another very quickly and the game can change. Coach is impressing on us the importance of the players that are in, going on and getting big scores. I can't just settle for a hundred!
My goals used to be to get 40 or 50 very quickly.
Now I am being used higher up in the order my goal has to be to get hundreds.
When I am the man in with a big score, I have to go on and make sure I am still there at the end.
Overall I'm pleased that my first knock of the year was a hundred, but looking at it from a team perspective I shouldn't have got out, so I have to learn from that.
Road to the World Cup
Coach took us through a dry run of the route we will take once the team gets off the plane for the World Cup.
He took us to the hotel and talked to the hotel staff. The team then followed the route through to the ground where Bermuda will play its opening game.
Just following the route gave the squad a feel for what it is going to be like, even without all the people there and will help the team handle it when the World Cup begins.
It gave me a taste of it and makes me want to be part of it even more.
Smells Like Team Spirit
The training centre has been a great place to bond. I can't remember a time when the team spirit amongst the boys has been this high.
The other day the team pushed the beds together in one of the rooms and we had six or seven guys laying off watching movies. That's the kind of bond we have.
I'm rooming with Azeem Pitcher and we'll go work in the nets together a lot. Any time you want to go and have a hit with your roomie, the nets are there and Azeem and I have been taking advantage of that.
It appears that the team spirit is back to what it was before Bermuda qualified for the World Cup.
I can see that every time we step in the nets, not just on the field, the team knows that it is representing Bermuda and are playing with pride and heart.
The squad for Kenya
Coach called in a meeting and said the team had to be announced for Kenya.
He just read out the names. It was interesting watching as the boys took it professionally.
Some of the guys didn't make the team but it looked like they took it well and it seems to have just made them determined to work extra hard.
This isn't the World Cup squad and there is still time for them to make it.
I've always been a confident player and I feel confident that this team can do well.
The squad has bonded back together and working hard.
The coaching staff is working so hard with us taking the team back to the basics that brought Bermuda success.
I feel good about Kenya and the World Cricket League.[[In-content Ad]]
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