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Former West Indies assistant coach David Moore takes up his new job at the helm of Bermuda's cricket squad this week. The Australian joins up with Bermuda in Pretoria on Sunday as they prepare for their tour of Namibia.

It will be the first chance for Moore to see Bermuda in action.

In his first interview since agreeing to take on the job Moore talks to James Whittaker about his background, his expectations and the dream of taking our national team back to the World Cup.[[In-content Ad]]How do you feel about the job at hand in South Africa and Namibia?

I am excited and looking forward to the next three years

Next week is going to be a very big learning experience. I have a limited amount of time with the players.

There will be a fair bit of looking. I haven't been involved with the preparation. I may ask Arnold and Andre (Manders) to run some sessions but it is going to be a mix of observation and participation for me.

How much do you know about the Bermuda team?

I know about the team in paper. I came across last October and I met Stephen (Outerbridge) and Irving (Romaine). I've also talked to David Hemp and I've stayed in touch with those guys since.

I've kept in touch with Arnold (Manders) and Neil (Speight) so I know how things have been going but it is impossible to learn over the telephone.

Right now, I know stats but not much more than that.

When do you officially begin as Bermuda coach?

The cricket board have brought me in for Pretoria and Namibia. I have to go back to Australia for a couple of months and I will be back in May to start full time.

It has been frustrating, as they have been working hard to get me here sooner, but there is nothing we can do about that. I'll be here in May and it will be full steam ahead.

We understand your role extends beyond coaching the senior team?

I will be involved with the feeder teams to the national team. That was the big appeal of the job. I won't just work with the senior team. I will work with the under-age teams and put structures in place that will hopefully strengthen the progression of players through to the senior level.

Any initial thoughts or ideas?

Until I see it in action it is hard to say. I don't now how everything operates. You may have very good feeder programmes, in which case my task will be to make them even stronger and to get better quality games and tournaments and keep improving what we are doing as coaches.

What is your previous coaching experience?

I spent three years in the West Indies and before that I was at the cricket academy in Australia for three years. I also coached at the Under-19 level for New South Wales and coached their women's programme.

My main role in the West Indies was as assistant coach and match analyst, working on computer analysis of the games. At the academy in Australia I was a senior coach.

I was a wicketkeeper for New South Wales as a player so I do have a soft spot for keepers and hopefully I'll be able to do some work with the Bermuda keepers next week

Your predecessor Gus Logie took Bermuda to the World Cup. Will he be a hard act to follow?

I've got to give Gus his due. He got them to the World Cup for the first time in Bermuda's history. There are expectations there and so there should be.

Bermuda is a cricket nation, there is a grand history of the sport on the island and I need to be able to bring that to the fore.

Gus is a hard act to follow but, hopefully I can do the same thing and get Bermuda back to the World Cup.

I don't play cricket games to lose. Every game we're involved with I'll be expecting us to win or at least put in the best performance possible. That (the World Cup) is something that is in our sights.

Player motivation has been highlighted as a problem by previous coaches. Any thoughts on how to address that?

I understand the turn outs at training so far have been pretty good. But if people can't motivate themselves to play for their country and play at the highest level I would be interested to find out why not.

It is the greatest honour for any athlete. I am interested in people that want to represent Bermuda and are willing to make it one of their priorities in conjunction with looking after their family.

I respect that they are not professionals and they have lives outside of cricket but I would expect the players I'm working with to make it a high priority.

If people are unsure about that commitment that is their decision but we won't be calling on them to play for Bermuda I wouldn't think.

Is there a need for a different approach when you are coaching non-professional players?

With New South Wales U19 and women's teams and with district clubs out there I have worked with amateur cricketers

There is a clear understanding that people have to provide for their families as well but once you make a commitment to your team that is when you make that choice. After that they clearly need to understand the commitment that is required. I'm understanding of their lives outside cricket but they have to understand the commitment needed for the team to succeed.

How much do you know about the opposition at Associate Level. Have you come across teams like Ireland, Scotland and Canada in the past?

I know a little bit about those teams. I'm not as well versed on the UAE and those teams in that lower tier we are in at the moment. Our aim is to get back into that top tier and get our one-day-international status back. We are in a reasonable zone with Canada and the US. We need to get out there and be consistently beating those teams if we want to qualify again.

How important is it to get games outside of those scheduled by the ICC?

That will be one of the key things, to play against strong teams that are perceived to be our equal or better.

It's important that any touring teams passing through to the West Indies. that we try to get hold of those teams to come here, but its also key to spend a lot of time playing those teams close to home in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean - we need as many quality games as the budget will allow.

Test teams, including India, have indicated in the past that they would be willing to come to Bermuda but the facilities have not permitted it. How important will it be to get the infrastructure up to scratch.

If you want teams to come you have got to provide them with the training facilities and the match facilities.

If you want to improve you've got to play high quality games. If that means getting international facilities then I will be pushing that.

That is sometimes a bit out of your control because there are other variables that affect that. Most importantly we need to come up with a solution to provide for attractive opposition to come to us or for us to go to them.

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