OJ Pitcher has been named as Bermuda’s new captain — although he will miss this week’s trip to Toronto because of a knee injury.

The St David’s batsman’s appointment comes ahead of Bermuda’s ICC World Cricket League Division Four tournament in Los Angeles when they will play the United States, Oman, Italy and Denmark.

In preparation for the competition, which runs from October 27 to November 4, a training squad of 14 players will travel to Toronto tomorrow for four matches, with Terryn Fray, the new vice-captain, to lead the team in Pitcher’s absence.

Dion Stovell, the St David’s batsman, will serve as vice-captain during the warm-up matches. Bermuda will play against Canada on Friday and Saturday before meeting Mississauga Ramblers and a Canada select team next Tuesday and Wednesday.

Clay Smith, the Bermuda coach, said the importance of quality preparation matches could not be overestimated.

“Canada are a proven entity and are the top-ranked Associate team in our region,” Smith said during a press conference at the Bermuda Cricket Board headquarters on Point Finger Road yesterday.

“The [Bermuda] squad has many young players that we’re looking to provide experience and exposure to as we get ready to select the final 14 and four standby players for the WCL Division Four.”

Smith admits there have been challenges with several notable players not showing interest or making themselves unavailable.

“It’s always a difficult process when you have to remove some of your better players,” Smith said. “Janeiro Tucker withdrew because of injury, then you have Jacobi [Robinson], Allan Douglas, Chris Douglas, but I want to focus on the squad that’s been chosen.

“These guys have met our requirements, have put the work in, and shown they are hungry to play for Bermuda. I’m not too concerned about the results during this trip and we have sat down and laid out the goals we want to achieve.”

The matches will provide the players the opportunity to put themselves in contention for the October trip to Los Angeles.

“There are a lot of players who are trying to stake a claim for the final 14, with guys like OJ, Tre Manders and Christian Burgess not part of this trip,” Smith added.

“Hopefully the players will grasp the opportunity to put some pressure on the selectors when it comes to picking the final squad.”

Wicketkeeper Burgess remains in England where he has been receiving treatment for a knee injury that ruled him out of Cup Match. Okera Bascome will perform the wicketkeeping duties, with another gloveman, Sinclair Smith, withdrawing from the training squad for personal reasons.

“Christian has been getting some rehab over there and the last I heard he was going for his final check-up” Smith said.

Smith has taken a hard-line approach to players not prepared to make the necessary commitment.

“We’ve had our best players most of the time over the past couple of years but unfortunately we haven’t had them as committed as we would have liked and therefore our standards have dropped,” he said.

“We’ve gone from Division One to Division Four and now we have to do it differently. Players have no choice but to be committed. If we get the structure right we can build from there and that’s what we’re trying to get the players to buy into.

“It’s a very young squad but players like Delray [Rawlins], Tre and Terryn have been around for a long time and do have some experience.

“We have to move on, this is the way we’re looking to move cricket forward. Either you are going to be committed or you’re not going to be part of this.”

The BCB have selected local umpire Melvin Best to officiate on the trip to gain international experience.