Lionel Cann has joined those who have urged Bermudians to keep a recent string of defeats in perspective and not expect success on the international cricket front to arrive in the wink of an eye.

Using Bangladesh?s gradual ascent in the One Day arena as a classic example, Cann ? last year?s Cingular Cricketer of the Year Award recipient ? said Bermuda still has a lot of ground to cover at the international level and also called on the local community to rally their full support behind the Island?s national cricket team.

?When you take a look at some of the other countries, it took them decades to get to where they are today. We are the smallest nation ever to qualify for the World Cup and so we are now going to come up against teams that are better than us and we have to accept the fact that we are going to lose some matches,? Cann told .

Only last month Bangladesh recorded an historic win over Sri Lanka, their tenth win in 116 one-dayers.

Bermuda have gone winless in their previous nine limited overs matches since qualifying for next year?s World Cup in the West Indies last July.

?People just have to patient and let the Bermuda Cricket Board (BCB) follow through with their plans,? Cann said. ?This is a process and you just have to stick to the process no matter what the outcome.?

Cann urged the public to rally their full support behind the national team, something he believes his colleagues were deprived of in the lead up to last summer?s ICC Trophy Tournament in Ireland.

?The entire country has not been behind us and when we were trying to qualify for the World cup nobody gave us a chance,? he said.

?There was so much negativity being spread around about us and only those actually close to the team believed in us, not the general public.

?But we are the last of the Shell Boys (former members of the Shell Youth Leagues) and so we stuck together and believed in each other and that?s what ultimately brought us through. And now that we have achieved our goal (qualifying for World Cup) there is still a lot of negativity out there.?

Tens of thousands of Bangladeshis poured on to the streets of Dhaka to celebrate the country?s four-wicket win over Sri Lanka last month at Bogra in the second One Day International.

Cann said Bermuda?s celebrations paled in comparison.

?You have some cricket fanatics out there, but most of the time the talk is negative about us and all you hear is about is the $11m Government pumped into the sport,? he said.

?What people don?t understand is that the $11m is not for us, but rather for helping local cricket over the next four years. This money is not for the players; we are not getting none of that money and I think are those out there in the community who might be a bit jealous because Government put a lot of money into one particular sport.

?But I guess this is just the way things are in Bermuda. Everything seems to be stacked against us but we are mentally strong enough to deal with matters and this actually helps to keep us motivated. And we don?t expect things to get any easier and we realise we are not going to have our best team every time we tour due to various reasons.?

Cann, however, disagreed with former Bailey?s Bay skipper Noel Gibbons who last week backed calls for the Board to affiliate themselves with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).

There are those who argue Bermuda will never be able to compete on the bigger scene and therefore attempts should be made to forge close ties with the WICB to enable local cricketers an opportunity to try out for the West Indies Test or One Day squads.

Cann holds a different view.

?I think if we were to ever join the West Indies we would lose so many opportunities,? he said. ?West Indies cricket has been in decline and if you were to look at countries such as Jamaica or Barbados, they can?t qualify (for the World Cup) as individual countries like we did.

?They are a part of the West Indies and don?t have the opportunities we have. We now have One Day status and our own identity. So I think it?s a plus for us in that more Bermudians will get the opportunity to play for Bermuda at a higher level as opposed to maybe one or two players who get chosen to represent the West Indies.?

Despite the Island?s limited player resources, Cann reckons it may take a decade or more before Bermuda can flex their muscles on the international front ? at least in limited overs cricket.

?Unfortunately we are at a bit of disadvantage because our small population and pool of players,? he said. ?But I don?t see any reason we should not be able to compete competitively at the international level in another ten-years or so.?

But if there is one thing Cann would like to see come to fruition involving Bermuda and the West Indies, then it?s having the Island represented in regional competitions in the Caribbean.

Bermuda previously competed in the former Red Stripe Bowl competitions in the West Indies in the 1990s.

?I?m sure BCB are doing the utmost to fit something like this in our busy schedule,? he said. ?And overall I think the Board are doing the best they can with the resources they now have.?