BERMUDA leave on Sunday for Florida to defend their 2006 title in the fifth ICC Americas Division 1 Championship.

Bermuda won the title in Canada two years ago and assistant coach Clay Smith said the players were up to the task of taking on the likes of former champs Canada and the USA at the tournament which will be staged in Fort Lauderdale starting on Tuesday.

"All the guys have been working hard ¿ those that have been away and those that have been in Bermuda," said Smith this week.

Six players returned from Australia late last week following two months of training and playing. They were captain Irving Romaine, Under-19 captain Rodney Trott, Tamauri Tucker, Chris Douglas, Kyle Hodsoll and Oronde Bascome.

Smith said: "Last night (Tuesday) was the first time we had a training session with the guys who went to Australia and you could see the level of professionalism that they brought back with them. The atmosphere was really nice and they all seem ready to go."

The six who went Down Under attended the acclaimed Brisbane Academy and Smith said: "They learned a lot down there. One of things we want to do when we have a minute is for all of us to sit down and let those guys reflect on their experience in Australia. We want to let them share with the rest of the team of what they encountered. It doesn't make sense for them to keep all that knowledge to themselves. We want to know what they have learned and what they have seen. One thing that they did say to us the other night was the high level of professionalism they encountered in Australia ¿ that is what we want them to share with the team."

And like national coach Gus Logie told the Mid-Ocean News last week, Smith it was a good idea to send a group of players to Australia for those longer training periods.

"Sending a group down is a good idea ¿ they can feed off each other and it makes it easier for them to settle in as opposed to going by themselves. It all helps our ability to be successful in future tournaments."

Next week in Florida six Americas region nations will be competing ¿ hosts USA, Canada, Cayman Islands, Argentina and Suriname will join Bermuda for the tournament which finishes on Sunday, November 30.

Previous winners include Canada (2000 and 2004) and the USA (2002) as well as Bermuda in 2006.

Bermuda will play five matches in six days and Smith said that will take a lot of effort.

"By playing practically every day fitness will definitely come into it. I know it will be taxing for the guys to play that many games over such a short period of time."

But Smith said he had no worries about the players responding to the packed schedule.

"I think we have an advantage in that the guys who have come back from Australia are very fit ¿ they should be super fit having put their work in along with the four guys over in England. And the guys who have been here have been in the gym training pretty consistently so we should be able to manage it. The team also has enough depth so if we do get one or two injuries people should be able to come in without the team skipping a beat."

One thing that will be a bit of a mystery not only for Bermuda but for all the teams competing will be the wickets in Florida.

Smith said: "The wickets are completely unknown. I was told that a few are supposed to be turf and a couple are concrete. We may have one of us go early to have a look and see what the bounce is like (on the turf wickets) and see if it takes spin or pace or whatever.

"I have just been informed that two of our games will be on concrete and the other three will be on turf ¿ apparently. That could be tricky in a sense the concrete wickets will have that extra bounce ¿ but it shouldn't be too bad ¿ concrete wickets have a true bounce. It is just a matter of adjusting quickly. We will have to settle in and take an extra over or two to see what the bounce is doing and then go from there."

With the players arriving in Florida on Sunday Smith said that they will most likely get in some fielding practice on Monday before play starts on Tuesday against the Cayman Islands.

"Most of the guys (who have been in Bermuda) have been training indoors. We would like to get a good fielding session in and make sure the guys are sharp prior to the Tuesday game," he said.

Bermuda's main two rivals for the title next week will be Canada and the USA. And both those teams have been playing this week in the WICB Cup in Guyana against good opposition like Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad.

Last week Bermuda coach Logie told the Mid-Ocean News that while competing in this 50 overs competition would normally be great preparation for next week's tournament in Florida, he did warn that if the USA and Canada were on the end of some big beatings it could demoralise those teams.

As it turned out the USA and Canada have been getting crushed this week in Guyana.

The Leeward Islands beat Canada by 184 runs while Jamaica beat Canada by nine wickets ¿ with 175 balls remaining!

The fixture between Trinidad and Canada was rained out without a ball being balled as was the match between Jamaica and the USA.

But Barbados beat the USA by 109 runs while Trinidad scored a six-wicket victory over the USA with 72 balls remaining.

The Combined Campuses and Colleges also scored a six-wicket win over the USA.

After taking on Cayman on Tuesday Bermuda will play Suriname on Wednesday and then the USA on Thursday. Friday is a reserve day and on Saturday Bermuda will face Argentina with the final match on Sunday against Canada.

Suriname will be playing in the top tier of senior regional competition for the very first time next week ¿ they are the only Affiliate nation in the group ¿ and they earned the right to join the region's Associates by virtue of winning the regional Division 2 tournament earlier in the year.

For Argentina and the Cayman Islands, not only will they both be looking for their first regional championship title, but this event will also provide a pointer towards where their respective preparations are ahead of the World Cricket League Division 3 tournament, to take place in January 2009.

Favourites to claim the title of Americas region champions must be Bermuda and Canada, both ODI nations, and having had a busy and productive year of international competition, but hosts USA cannot be written off by any stretch of the imagination, regardless of the disappointment of not progressing out of World Cricket League Division 5 earlier in the year.

The USA retain their enormous potential to be a cricket powerhouse, and their showing in the 2006 Americas tournament showed that on any given day they can beat any other regional side. They, along with Canada, will arrive at the tournament fresh from taking on West Indies domestic competition in the Caribbean, and both sides will no doubt benefit from day one.

The Cayman Islands showed in Toronto two years ago just what they are capable of, pulling off an upset win over regional giants Canada, while Argentina's recent World Cricket League successes mean both these sides must not be underestimated. For minnows Suriname this will be a trip into the unknown, and will most likely be very much an exercise in learning, but their tigerish attitude on the field will be no different this time around.

Fixtures

Tuesday November 25

Argentina v Canada

Bermuda v Cayman Islands

USA v Suriname

Wednesday November 26

Bermuda v Suriname

Canada v Cayman Islands

USA v Argentina

Thursday November 27

Argentina v Cayman Islands

Canada v Suriname

USA v Bermuda

Friday November 28

Rest/Reserve day

Saturday November 29

Argentina v Bermuda

Cayman Islands v Suriname

USA v Canada

Sunday November 30

Argentina v Suriname

Bermuda v Canada

USA v Cayman Islands