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Clay Smith produced a typically classy innings on his international comeback and then declared - 'It's good to be back.'

Ultimately Smith's defiant knock of 89 was in a losing cause as Bermuda went down by nine wickets with just a few overs to spare against Canada last night.

But the national team skipper's return to fitness and form as well as the run-scoring exploits of Irving Romaine and, in the first-innings, Janeiro Tucker, provided a silver lining on another dark and stormy weekend for Bermuda cricket.

Smith, who almost earned his side a draw, was disappointed to have come so close and lost, but he was clearly relishing being back in the fold.

"I enjoy being in the thick of the battle and that's what it is, it's a battle out there. I had a reasonably good knock. I tried to hang around, I knew it was going to be a long day, but unfortunately I wasn't able to stick it out long enough for us to come away with the draw, which I thought we deserved."

Bermuda began the day with their backs against the wall, more than 200 runs behind and needing to bat for a draw.

Smith and Romaine (65) dug in to give them hope but once they had gone the innings collapsed to 310 all out, leaving Canada to knock off their 57-run victory target in the final overs.

Ultimately though it was Bermuda's performance in the field that cost them, with the bowlers taking a beating as three Canadians chalked up centuries in a massive score of 588 all out.

After the game Smith, who will play no further part in the tour as he takes a cautious approach with his comeback from a knee injury, was keen to emphasize the positives.

"To be able to go right down to the wire in our first four-day game shows that we are developing. We have to learn from this and move on.

"We've got the one-day games coming up. I think we've got a better one-day team than we have a four-day team.

Most of our batsmen like to score runs quickly so it should be interesting."[[In-content Ad]]

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