Moore: We've got plenty of talent

Senior national cricket coach David Moore has urged his players to keep their feet planted firmly on the ground and not get “carried away” by their successful tour of Dubai.

Four wins in five matches — three of which came against United Arab Emirates

(UAE) Under 19s — would’ve done the confidence of Moore’s charges the world of good ahead of April’s crucial ICC World Cricket League (WCL) Division Two tournament in Dubai.

But as the former New South Wales wicketkeeper is quick to point out "there's still plenty of room for improvement".

He said: “We don’t want to get too carried away because obviously there’s some areas that we need to desperately work on to improve.

“The boys have been working hard and it is an exciting time for us, but we don’t want to get too carried away.

“We’ve obviously beaten a team that beat us very convincingly on a couple of occasions and we’ve come back and played very well.”

Promise

Although the bulk of Bermuda’s wins came against UAE’s Under 19s, coach Moore described the opposition as “tough”.

He added: “UAE tend to have a number of players playing for them throughout the season and I think all of these guys have at least played a couple of games during the season and certainly a number of them did come down to Bermuda during the time (last summer) they beat us quite convincingly.”

Moore reckons the senior national team’s international future is laden with promise, but only if his players stay committed to the national cause.

He added: “If the players maintain a focus and maintain their energy and enthusiasm to training and getting better we are looking very, very promising. Obviously it’s up to the players and the way they respond to hard work and tough times.

“The talent is not lacking, that’s certainly not the thing we have been worried about.

“It’s about guys actually putting their hands up and saying yes I want to play for Bermuda and yes I’m going to give it my all and be committed to playing for the people of Bermuda and the cricket board.”

While Moore is “encouraged” to see the players that travelled to Dubai “make the most of their opportunity”, he makes it perfectly clear that nobody’s place in Bermuda’s eventual ICC World Cricket League Division Two squad is guaranteed.

Some players did not make the trip, like Stephen Outerbridge, who might challenge for a position.

He added: “Obviously the 15 guys that have had their opportunity here (Dubai) have not wasted their opportunity, which is great for them.

“But we probably have to pick a side three to four weeks outside of the start of the tournament (WCL) and so all players in our squad — both those that have been on this tour and those that haven’t — still have an opportunity to impress and also take steps back if they don’t maintain their focus.”

Hemp and Cann

Two positives coach Moore highlighted from his team’s recent tour of Dubai is the stability skipper David Hemp and Lionel Cann added to Bermuda’s top and middle batting order.

He said: “I think in all honesty this is the best spot for the team and David and I have been speaking about that since May (2010).

We tried him at number four to see if he could give us a bit of steel in the middle order and decided that’s not the way we want to go anymore because it’s very important to have our best batsmen hitting as many balls as possible.

“The number six position that Lionel has filled is looking very, very strong and we are now putting ourselves in position where we can win games — even though we have lost early wickets.”