For a man who has coached some of the finest cricketers in the world, Michael Young has a surprisingly simple approach to the game.

It is one that has been at the heart of all successful sportsmen and women since time immemorial, and to quote Vince Lombardi it is this: "Practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect."

Young, Australia's fielding coach, revolutionised cricket when he brought an American viewpoint to the game. His methods made Australia the best fielding side in the world, and at the heart of that is a devotion to practice and a belief that if you get the basics right, then everything else will follow.

For the last three days it is that sentiment that Young has been trying to get across to Bermuda's cricketers and coaches. Whether he has any impact only time will tell, but if nothing else he hopes they have grapsed the importance of learning the fundamentals.

"When I coach I look at things and try and adapt them to the people that are there," he said. "I can't teach certain things that Andrew Symonds does, because he's Andrew Symonds. But the reality is, if I've learned anything in 30 years in the job, it's that the basic fundamentals is what it's all about.

"If you have the talent, those guys will take those fundamentals a little further. But it's all about the fundamentals, it doesn't matter the sport, you've got to do the basics well. And then, if you can nail those, then you can take a step further.

"Right now, these guys (the Bermuda team), there are just some basic things they need to work on."

Teaching the mechanics of how to throw the ball correctly is one thing, but for Young it goes hand in hand with his ethos towards the game.

"We've talked a little bit about that," he said. "With these guys I think one of the things is that they need to believe in themselves. They need to understand the old cliche, 'about learning to walk before you can run', they need to nail the fundamentals.

"And when they can do that, and understand that that is going to take them to the next level, then they are going to be able to get the most out of their ability, and that's the same with anybody. And then they get some confidence and self-esteem and they see some success and they can go on.

"Justin Langer was not the most talented player, but he was committed to perfect practice, and that's one of the things I have talked to these guys about.

"Practice doesn't make perfect, but perfect practice makes perfect. And those are the things that they need to understand. There needs to be an accountability, every job is the same. You can do it half-arsed, and you're going to get half-arsed results. Or you can do the extra and try to get more, that's how you get to the other levels."

Getting the extra has been problematic in recent weeks, and while Young is happy to contribute some of his time, he doubts he could do it on a regualr basis.

"These guys all have jobs, so the mentality is different, there is a different approach," he said. "I don't know how long I could do this (working with teams such as Bermuda). I'll be honest, I don't know how long I could do it because I believe in commitment and it would be hard for me to work with amatuer players."

While Young has spent most of his short stay with the country's top cricketers, he has also spent time with several coaches. And he feels that it is this time, that will have more impact when he leaves.

"I'd like to get to all of them (the coaches), that would be my goal," he said. "I think it is pretty important that I get with whoever imparts the knowledge, because I just don't have the time to see all the players.

"At the end of the day I know with athletes at any level, some take it on, some don't. You've got to repeat yourself quite a lot, and that's part of the business. But hopefully with the teachers and the coaches, they can pick it up and keep repeating it and hopefully we get to more athletes that way."

From here Young will travel to Canada and give their players the benefit of his expertise before he finally catches up with Australia in Barbados in two weeks' time. He appreciates the time he has been given to spend with the local team and with Gus Logie, who he saw play for the first time in Brisbane in 1981.

"Working with Gus has been awesome, I have been very, very impressed with him," said Young. "It's awesome that these guys have some like that to work with."

The final word though goes to Lombardi, and again it is a sentiment that Bermuda's cricketers might like to consider.

"Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilisation work."