Christian Burgess has had a taste of cricket at a higher level and now he is hungry for more.

The Bermuda wicketkeeper spent a week in Barbados at an ICC Americas training camp earlier this month where he played with and against with some of the best young players in the region, and proved he could more than hold his own.

In four innings, a one-day game and three Twenty20 matches, he averaged 56 with the bat and had six dismissals, five catches and a stumping, in the two games in which he kept wicket.

“It was a really good experience, it gave me a glimpse of what it would be like if we [Bermuda] were to advance to the next level against higher competition, playing more games, more frequently, and it was an eye-opener really,” Burgess said.

“It [the training programme] is certainly something I would like to be involved in more often going forwards.”

Burgess said that he had not set any goals for himself prior to arriving in Barbados but said that he felt “pretty pleased with what I accomplished against better opposition.”

His achievements did not go unnoticed by Tom Evans, the International Cricket Council’s high-performance consultant for the region.

Evans said that he had been impressed not only with the Bermuda wicketkeeper’s performance on the field, but also with his contributions off the field.

On the final day of the camp in Barbados the players had individual meetings with players, and Burgess was told he needed to work on playing against off spin, and scoring more quickly when he first got the crease.

His ability to fit in well may be to his advantage, however, when it comes to the decision Evans has to make as to which six players, from the 12 he coached in Barbados, are given the chance to train with a Caribbean Premier League team. That decision is expected to be made in the next several weeks.

“I thought about it [the CPL], it sounds like a really good opportunity, obviously it would be my first experience of first-class cricket and hopefully I make the cut,” he said.

“It’s just a case of waiting really. Obviously there are a few nerves because it’s a big opportunity, but I’m relaxed as well because I felt like I gave it my all [in Barbados].”

Bermuda, meanwhile, are hoping that Burgess’s presence at the camp, alongside Onias Bascome, Tre Manders and Delray Rawlins, does not just help those players individually but gives Bermuda a much-needed boost too.

Relegated to Division Four of the Pepsi World Cricket League in October, Burgess, Rawlins, and the other younger members will be the ones tasked with restoring Bermuda’s reputation on the world stage.

Burgess has no doubts that he and his contemporaries can succeed in that regard.

“I feel that we’re good enough to go up against any competition, it’s just a matter of our work ethic,” he said.

“I think we can compete against better players, we just need a better structure.”

n The Bermuda Cricket Board has selected a Bermuda Under-18 squad that will start training in the new year in preparation for the Under-19 World Cup.

There will be a full squad meeting with parents and/or guardians on January 5 at 6pm in the meeting room at Charities House.