January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
Top batsmen didn't deliver the goods
The senior batsmen didn't make the big scores needed to win matches at this level.
Coach Gus Logie alluded to the point on countless occasions in his post-match briefings and the scorecards bear him out.
Clay Smith, Irving Romaine, Janeiro Tucker and Lionel Cann scored one half-century between them.
Put simply, Bermuda's potential match winners did not win them any matches.
Romaine and Tucker, in particular, showed they were in decent enough touch by persistently making 20s and 30s, but they never kicked on to score a century, or even get close.
They didn't perform particularly badly, in the context of an awful tour for Bermuda, but neither did they produce.
The contrast with the Netherlands' star Ryan ten Doeschate and Kenya's Steve Tikolo could not have been more pronounced.
Centuries win matches and Bermuda got none.
In the one-day games Dean Minors' knock of 68 was the highest score by any Bermudian batsman.
If your big-game players don't perform then you need one of the boys on the fringes to make an impression.
This was a big chance for Stephen Outerbridge and Kwame Tucker, who had staked a claim for the openers' spots at the Americas' Championships.
But both men posted one-day stats a tailender would have been embarrassed to write home about.
In fact Outerbridge's average of 5.6 was the lowest of all Bermuda's players, including the bowlers. He redeemed himself slightly with a top score of 80 in the four-day games but struggled to settle throughout.
David Hemp, who hit a double hundred in the four-day game against Holland also showed glimpses of what he is capable of in the one-day matches and overall he and Saleem Mukuddem were the two batsmen to emerge with their reputations enhanced.
The cause was not helped by persistent failure, yet again, at the top of the order. The top opening partnership (Clay Smith and Dean Minors against Canada) was 50. The average was 11.22.
Without a solid base from which to build the job was much harder for the middle order batsmen and this crucial problem, which has dogged Bermuda for the last two years, remains the most pressing concern.
The likes of Delyone Borden, OJ Pitcher and possibly even Stephen Bremar or Oronde Bascome could now come into contention, though Logie may choose to stick with the Minors/Smith experiment for a while longer, yet.
With the ball this tour was always going to be about who could fill George O'Brien's sizable shoes. And the rather surprising answer was Saleem Mukuddem.
The South African stepped up with some awesome performances, shouldering the bulk of the seam bowling, and taking a total of 20 wickets on the tour.
Injury and illness prevented Ryan Steede or Kevin Hurdle from showing what they could do over a sustained period while youngsters Malachi Jones and Stefan Kelly suffered a baptism of fire at one-day-international level.
Dwayne Leverock was his usual dependable self - turning out figures that would have won matches, had the batsmen posted defendable totals.
Janeiro Tucker was solid and economical and David Hemp contributed enough overs to suggest that Bermuda could go into the World Cup with four, or (discounting Mukuddem) just three specialist bowlers.
Player-by-player statistical analysis from both the one day and four day matches.
Saleem Mukuddem
ODI batting average: 38.5
ODI bowling average: 23.45
Four-day batting average: 51.5
Four-day bowling average: 18.11
Returning to his native Africa, Saleem Mukuddem, had the tour of his life with ball and bat.
Asked to fill George O'Brien's shoes as opening bowler he was, until Kevin Hurdle's late rally, the mainstay of the seam attack.
Time and again he took crucial wickets, a total of 20 the tour - more than any other bowler.
With the bat too, he was in fine form, contributing to a record stand of 219 with David Hemp in the Intercontinental Cup. He topped the averages with 38.5 in the one-day series' and only Hemp, almost exclusively due to his double hundred against Holland, scored more runs on the tour.
After a fairly indifferent year for Saleem this was a big tour and he proved what a valuable asset he is.
David Hemp
ODI batting average: 31.67
ODI bowling average: 87
Four-day batting average: 250
Four-day bowling average: n/a
After taking a few innings to settle in, new boy David Hemp came to the party with a record-breaking double hundred against the Dutch.
He was Bermuda's top performer in the one-day tournament against Canada and Holland and showed the value of his professional experience.
Like Holland's Ryan ten Doeschate who plays for Essex, Hemp's performances demonstrated the enormous value of having a player who competes in the English county leagues, competing at this level.
Janeiro Tucker
ODI batting average: 26.83
ODI bowling average: 31.33
Four-day batting average: 5.5
Four-day bowling average: n/a
The man whose middle-order exploits took Bermuda to the World Cup in the first place, is in the midst of a disappointing run of form.
He averaged 26 in the one-day series, only passing 50 on one occasion - his first half-century of the year.
Several times he got 'starts' but failed to go on to get the kind of match-winning score he is capable of.
Tucker, along with Irving Romaine and now David Hemp, is one of the mainstays of the middle order. And if he doesn't start to get runs soon it is hard to see how Bermuda will make those 250 plus scores they badly need to win at this level.
Janeiro had a better time with the ball in the one-day matches, where he bowled economically.
Irving Romaine
ODI batting average: 22.57
ODI bowling average: n/a
Four-day batting average: 10
Four-day bowling average:14
Bermuda's most successful batsman this year, Irving Romaine, did not reproduce that form on this tour.
Like Tucker, he had several good starts, but he failed to get a single half-century.
That, above all else, explains why Bermuda did not get the results on this tour. To win matches at this level you need your top batsman to post three figures, or at least to get close, and Romaine did not do that.
He averaged around 22 by scoring around 22 in virtually every innings. He's due a big one when Bermuda return to Kenya for the World League.
Dean Minors
ODI batting average: 2.57
Four-day batting average: 20
Another player who was out in the 20s too often for his coach's liking, Minors at least showed promise in the openers position.
He nailed 68 from the top of the order against the Kenyans and though he struggled to match that on the rest of the tour he did better than most have managed in what is still a problem position for Bermuda.
He kept tidily in the one-day triangular tournament with five catches and though he would have liked more runs, he did okay in the context of a bad tour for Bermuda.
Stephen Outerbridge
ODI batting average: 5.6
Four-day batting average: 33.33
After staking a strong claim for the openers spot in the ICC Americas' Championships, Outerbridge did little to advance his cause here.
He was, by all accounts, a little unlucky against the Kenyans and struck a well-earned 80 in the four-day run fest against Holland. But in the one-day format his stats are far from impressive. He mustered just 28 runs in five innings at an average of just over four. His high score was 11. He was tried out at number three as Gus Logie again was forced to tinker with his opening partnership.
But success remained elusive for the emerging young batsman. Not his tour.
Kwame Tucker
ODI batting average: 10
Four-day batting average: 19
As stand-in keeper Tucker's place in the squad is all but assured, but his batting stats will need to improve if he wants to be any more than that.
Scored just 50 runs in five one-day-innings and fared little better in the four-day format. In his seven innings he made it to double figures just twice. And the form of both him and Outerbridge forced a rethink at the top of the order…. Again.
Clay Smith
ODI batting average: 10.33
Four-day batting average: 18.5
This comeback tour may have come at a difficult time for Clay, with the loss of his mother and his brother's illness.
In combination with his recurring knee injury, he was coming into this series with a lot on his plate. And the stats show that he didn't do the business on the field.
He sat out the one-day series against Kenya and managed an average of just over ten in his three one-day matches later in the tour, from the unfamiliar opener's slot. Didn't post a total of note in the four-day matches. Hopefully he can put his injury and personal troubles behind him in the new year and go on to play the kind of match-winning innings' Bermuda needs from him.
Lionel Cann
ODI batting average: 10.33
Flew out for the second part of the tour but made scant contribution on his comeback. Suffered an injury on his arrival and missed the four-day game and then made just 31 runs in three innings during the triangular series, never showing the kind of whirlwind batting form that has earned him a reputation as Bermuda's 'finisher'.
Didn't bowl at all and played from the number eight position as a specialist batsman.
Malachi Jones
ODI batting average: 21.5
ODI bowling average: 118
Selected largely as a seam bowler for the opening half of the tour the teenager found the step up in class, tough. Taking a single wicket in 17 overs, he was pounded for 118 runs at a rate of nearly seven an over. He had the rough end of the deal in that he only got to bowl at the in-form Kenyans but will have hoped to do better. A genuine all-rounder in the local leagues he showed some promise with the bat, averaging a shade over 20.
Rodney Trott
Four-day bowling average: 44.33
Four-day batting average: 0
Surprisingly under-utilised the young off-spinner played no part in the one-day matches. Took an impressive 3 for 47 in the four-day game against Holland to bowl Bermuda back into the match when the Dutch looked like posting a punishing total.Was expensive in the second innings, bowling 15 overs for 86 runs. But overall he did pretty well on his one opportunity on a pitch, which offered little to the bowlers and yielded more than 1,000 runs for the batsmen.
Ryan Steede
ODI bowling average: n/a
ODI batting average: 13
Four-day bowling average: 13.33
Four-day batting average: 0
Injury curtailed Steede's involvement on this tour. He bowled just four overs in the one-dayers which left Bermuda with a big gap to fill with the new ball. Excelled again in the four-day format picking up three for 40 against the Kenyans to add to his four for against Canada earlier this year.
Bermuda will hope to have him fit and firing as they attempt to climb the ever-steepening learning curve towards the World Cup.
Kevin Hurdle
ODI bowling average: 24.57
ODI batting average: n/a
Four-day bowling average: 53
Four-day batting average: 29
After an injury plagued tour Hurdle came to the party late in the day.
He took 3 for 52 and 3 for 30 in the final one-dayers to end on a high note. He also picked up a couple of scalps in the four-day games. Like Steede he needs to stay fit for the next few months as Bermuda appears to have little depth in the seam-bowling department.
Stefan Kelly
ODI bowling average: 49.67
ODI batting average: 15
Teenager Kelly has done well when he has played for Bermuda in the past, which suggests he is not out of his depth at this level. But on this tour he found it hard going. His three wickets in the one-dayers cost almost 50-a-piece. But more crucially he was carted for six an over - something Bermuda could ill afford with few runs to defend. He improved as the tour went on. After being smashed all round the ground against the Kenyans he showed more control when asked to do a difficult job, in the absence of more experienced seamers, during the triangular series.
Hasan Durham
ODI bowling average: 45
ODI batting average: 7.5
Four-day bowling average: 13.33
Four-day batting average: 0
Aside from one good bowling performance against the Canadians, when he and Sluggo combined to slow the scoring rate and take crucial wickets, as Bermuda attempted to defend a low total, this was a pretty average tour for Hasan. He took four wickets but was expensive by his standards and will come under renewed pressure for his place in the starting XI once Delyone Borden returns.
Dwayne Leverock
ODI bowling average: 18.45
ODI batting average: 17
Four-day bowling average: 50.75
Four-day batting average: 22
The big spin bowler is the target of plenty of criticism with his weight coming under scrutiny every time Bermuda loses.
Yet he is one man who does his country proud every time he pulls on the shirt.
On a poor tour for Bermuda he still excelled, advancing to number three in the Associate World rankings on the back of some impressive stats in Africa.
Five for 53 against Kenya was his headline performance, but he was actually a lot tighter in the other games. He took 11 wickets at just over 18-a-piece in almost 60 overs during the one-dayers with an economy rate of 3.4. In the four-day games he got through 75 overs - almost twice as many as anyone else -and though he was less penetrative he still kept the runs down.
At this level, he has few peers.[[In-content Ad]]
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