January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
There’s no place like home for cricketers
The last time cricket fans got a chance to see Bermuda in action was September 2004, when Barbados and the West Indies arrived for a one-week tour.
And the chance to show what they can do in-front of thousands of supporters has been something the players have relished.
Stand-in skipper Irving Romaine, speaking after Wednesday's knife-edge victory over England said: “All is beautiful. With the fans behind us — that was some serious stuff.
Hopefully we’ll have even more support for the final.
“It's good that the fans can see how much we have improved — we’re getting comments from everybody.
“It would be lovely for cricket if we could win. It's great to see so many people out. Hopefully we can get a 20-20 league going or something like that and get some more games under the lights.”
Romaine, who was caught from a no-ball and then bowled on a free-hit in successive deliveries on Wednesday before going on to make a match-winning half-century, said he was loving the 20-20 format as much as the crowd.
“Thanks to 20-20 rules I had a couple of lives. I said to myself there’s no way they’re going to get me three times.”
Spin bowler Dwayne Leverock said playing infront of the home crowd and the excitement of the 20-20, particularly the nail-biting win over England, was up there with his best experiences playing cricket for Bermuda.
“It's really nice to show the supporters we are working hard and if they are patient with us they will see the results. We know it's going to be hard on Saturday but we've got to get out there and battle.”
All-rounder Lionel Cann added: “It's amazing. Instead of just reading about it and hearing about it the people get to see us play.
“There's nothing like having a home crowd behind you. You get some negativity but it's mostly all really good stuff. The whole team's playing well and having a really good time.
“People are amazed. They're saying, 'we didn't know you guys could play like that'. They see that we can play pressure situations. Before when Bermuda lost a couple of wickets we would fold, but that's not happening anymore.”
Bermuda Cricket Board president Reg Pearman added that he hoped to be able to capitalize on the enthusiasm generated by the tournament to get Bermuda more home fixtures in future. Problems with the National Stadium wicket have made that difficult in the past but he said if teams were prepared to be flexible and perhaps play friendly matches on the artificial wicket, donated to Bermuda as part of the Classic package, then more matches were possible.
“Bermudians have had an opportunity to see us play for the first time. Hopefully this will give some more enthusiasm for the team. As far as getting teams in we have to conform to the criteria that's been set out but if the artificial turf works then it's a possibility. It may have to be friendly games but if the other teams are up for it, then we'll try and get them here.”[[In-content Ad]]
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