Bermuda better watch out, Bahamas skipper Greg Taylor is focused on causing an upset in the two sides' ICC Americas Championship game next Friday.

The two teams meet at the National Sports Centre on the first day of the tournament which runs from May 28 to June 3.

And Taylor, whose team qualified for the tournament by winning the Division Two version in February, is not planning on bringing a side to just make up the numbers.

"After successfully winning Division Two, our goal for this event is not to come last and return to the same division," he said. "We intend to stay in Division One and in order to do that we have to beat a couple of Associate teams.

"The team has been practising hard since October, 2009. We have training four times a week in order to perform well against the Associates and cause an upset. Our strength lies in both batting and bowling, but as far as weaknesses go, this is for the other teams to find out."

Not that Bermuda are unlikely to underestimate any of the teams that they face. Head coach David Moore has already said that he won't allow that to happen, while vice-captain Stephen Outerbridge believes consistency is the key to success for the home side.

"Currently we are a young inexperienced side but on any given day we can be explosive in any of the main disciplines in cricket," said Outerbridge. "Our challenge for this tournament and going forward is to basically bring this explosiveness to the forefront regularly and become more consistent and disciplined."

Bermuda will also have the rather new pressure of playing a major international tournament at home, a pressure that will be entirely alien to the majority of the squad.

"Playing at home has its advantages, but you tend to be under pressure with the home crowd expecting you to perform well," said Outerbridge. "How we handle this pressure will determine how much of an advantage playing at home really is.

"However, whenever you play at home a team's competence is very high. In this tournament, it will be no different. We are confident that we will be successful if we play to our full potential."

Bermuda will play all but one of their games at the NSC North Field. They face Argentina at Sea Breeze Oval, while other games will be played at venues around the Island, with Bailey's Bay, St David's, St George's, Somerset, Southampton Rangers and Western Stars all hosting matches.

Defending champions USA begin the defence of their crown against Argentina in St George's, while the other first round game pits Canada against Cayman Islands in St David's.

Only three teams have won the tournament since its inception in 2000, the US twice, Canada twice, and Bermuda once. The winners will again more than likely come from those three teams and so for Bermuda their tournament will rest on their last two games, against Canada on June 1 and then against the USA two days' later.

Following the conclusion of the 50-over tournament, the six teams will play a three-day Twenty20 competition, with the semi-finals and final taking place on Sunday, June 6. Bermuda have been grouped with Cayman and Bahamas, with Argentina, Canada and USA making up the other group.

ICC AMERICAS CHAMPIONSHIPS SCHEDULE

May 28

Bermuda v Bahamas, NSC; Argentina v USA, St. George's; Canada v Cayman Islands, St. Davids.

May 29

Canada v USA, NSC; Bermuda v Argentina, Sea Breeze Oval; Cayman Islands v Bahamas, Somerset CC.

May 31

Bermuda v Cayman Islands, NSC; Canada v Argentina, Southampton Oval; Bahamas v USA, Somerset CC.

June 1

Bermuda v USA, NSC; Bahamas v Canada, St. George's; Argentina v Cayman Islands, Bailey's Bay.

June 3

Bermuda v Canada, NSC; USA v Cayman Islands, Southampton Oval; Argentina v Bahamas, St John's Field.

Twenty20 Competition

Group A: Canada, USA, Argentina

Group B: Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Bahamas.

June 4

USA v Argentina, Sea Breeze Oval; Cayman Islands v Bahamas, NSC.

June 5

Bermuda v Cayman Islands, NSC; Canada v USA, St. David's; Bermuda v Bahamas, NSC; Canada v Argentina, St. David's.

June 6

Semi-final 2: B1 v A2, NSC; 5th/6th Place Play-off: A3 v B3, Somerset CC; Semi-final 1: A1 v A2, St. David's; 3rd/4th play-off: SF1 v Loser SF2, St. David's; Final: Winner SF1 v Winner SF2, NSC.