The Bermuda national cricket team kick off their World Cup Twenty/20 qualifying campaign today after two good, hard practice games.

Against Italy and Canada we were able to get some quality competitive games under our belts. Now it’s tournament time when everything counts and today’s game sees Bermuda fitted against one of the tournament favourites, Scotland, in what should be a stern test.

This is the beginning of what should be two testing weeks, with lots of ups and downs.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed that our team play to the best of their ability as they have the potential to shock the world of cricket.

While it was disappointing to lose a close game to Italy in the first warm-up match it was a morale booster to win against such a strong Canada team the day after.

Does this automatically make us contenders? No, but it should leave our team in a very upbeat, confident mood, thus showing them what they are capable of if they really work hard and execute the game plan.

Taking a closer look at our two warm-up games, one noticeable absentee from our team was Chris Douglas who would be ideal to open the batting, but due to his injury we are now faced with a crisis.

With the opening position being so crucial, Bermuda need to look at sending either Lionel Cann, Tre Manders or Dion’s club partner Kwame Tucker at the top of the order. If we can get Lionel to fire at the top along with Dion that duo would cause teams some serious trouble.

This is the team I think the coaches will select for our first game in batting order: Dion Stovell, Tre Manders, Lionel Cann, David Hemp, Janeiro Tucker, Allen Douglas, Malachi Jones, Kamau Leverock, Kwame Tucker, Jacobi Robinson, Derrick Brangman. `

What are the pros and cons of this team? The pro is that the Tre and Dion seemed to have a good understanding in the warm-up match and got us off to a good start. It also gives us more power hitting in the middle of our innings.

The con side of this is that we have too many big hitters in the team who might not be able to bat many overs, which could be the difference in us getting 140 runs instead of 180 runs.

Coaching decisions and tactics will play an important part of how we do.

In a tournament of this magnitude the coaches are going to be called upon to make some bold decisions as the game changes from over to over.

During the tournament if we are batting first or second the coaches may be faced with tough decisions when it comes to adjusting the batting order.

We must look to maximise our talents and score as many runs as possible. The question is are we bold enough to make tough decisions under pressure, such as move Hemp from four to eight if we are on top of the bowling, or open with Lionel to try and capitalise on the power play, or drop Lionel if he keeps failing, or if teams are opening with spin, send Janeiro in at three so that our best batsman bats as many overs as possible. Decisions! Decisions! Decisions!

Having said all of that, our coaching staff seem to be on the right track as the team looks to be gelling at the right time.

The players must believe as believing is half the battle. If there was any doubt over whether we are capable of being competitive those doubts should have been erased.

One thing these warm-ups have shown is that there is no clear favourite, hence, the reason why every game and every run is crucial.

Qualifying to the play-off round could simply come down to which team has the higher net run rate. I encourage the Bermuda team to fight right to the end of each game and give it all you have got. Do yourselves and Bermuda proud.

• On a slightly different note, this week marks the end of an era as Sachin Tendulkar plays his last game for India against West Indies.

Sachin was one of if not the greatest batsman to ever grace this earth. As one Indian said: “He was put on this earth just to play cricket and he has entertained us from day one until now”.

Thank you “Little Master”, you will be sorely missed.

Quote of the week: Show class, have pride, and display character. If you do, winning takes care of itself — Paul Bryant