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Bermuda's new vice captain Stephen Outerbridge has made an impassioned plea for the country to get behind his team as they begin the long road back towards the top tier of world cricket.

The 26-year-old batsman was stung by some of the criticism meted out to the squad after they failed to qualify for the World Cup in South Africa earlier this year.

And he has called on the fans to show some of the passion they demand from the players.

"We get a lot of stick from people saying we don't show national pride. That upsets me to tell you the truth.

"A lot of people close to me know how passionate I am about playing for Bermuda.

"I just hope we get that same response from the public and they show some passion themselves by coming out to support."

Last time Bermuda played at a home, in a four-day match with Namibia, only a handful of die-hard fans turned out to watch.

But with two 50-over matches and a 20-20 game scheduled against Uganda, Outerbridge is hopeful that there will be more interest this time.

"I hope the people come out and support us next week. That will be interesting to see.

"I wish people would come out and support the national team like they do Cup Match."

Outerbridge - who has set himself a personal goal of reaching the top five batsmen in the Associates - accepts that it will require hard work and commitment from the players to get back to competing with the likes of Ireland, Scotland and Kenya.

But he believes it will be easier with the country behind them.

"It might take four years to get back to that level.

"We have got so much work to do.

"We need to commit. It is not just me, or any one player that can do it. It's going to take the whole country."

The stylist left hander, who excelled in South Africa despite Bermuda's sub-par performance, believes Bermuda's conveyer belt of talent from the national youth squads through to the senior team gives them the framework for success.

"We are the only team (in the Associates) that is bringing through youth players instead of bringing in foreigners.

"It's going to be tough because we don't have the experience. It is not going to happen overnight.

"But if we can get a bunch of players that are willing to commit, we can make a serious impact over the next four or five years."

Outerbridge knows better than anyone how long it can take for a young player to acclimatize to international cricket. And he believes the new faces in the squad will need time before they can produce the goods consistently.

The Bailey's Bay batsman is now established as one of Bermuda's top batsman.

Four years of work

But it took four years of mediocre performances before he finally made his breakthrough last summer.

A breakthrough innings of 83 for his University side against English county XI Northants changed everything.

"Lionel Thomas put it all in perspective for me when he told me, it's just going to take one innings and everything will click. That was it for me. Scoring runs against county players gave me the confidence to do it for Bermuda."

After that he never looked back. He scored 80 against Canada, a century against Scotland and another 80 against Namibia in consecutive Intercontinental Cup matches.

Then he starred in South Africa, averaging 60 and scoring his first century in a limited over's international - against next week's opponents Uganda.

"My ambition now is to be in the top five bats in the Associates.

"When people look around and talk about the best batsman - Eion Morgan, William Porterfield - I want them to at least mention Stephen Outerbridge."

He hopes his team-mates will set similar goals and not simply be satisfied with being the best in Bermuda.

"I love playing Cup Match but I want to reach my full potential. That should be the goal of every athlete.

"If guys want to play at a high level they have got to buckle down and say 'I want to do it for my country - not just for Somerset or St. George's or Bailey's Bay or whoever' - that is how it has to be."[[In-content Ad]]

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