Bermuda?s national team arrived back from Antigua two days ago, scene of next week?s Stanford 20-20 clash with Jamaica ? and skipper Irving Romaine is feeling great about the tournament seven days before they head back to the airport.

The $36m event got underway last night with victories for the United States Virgin Islands and Cayman, and Romaine can?t wait to get his Stanford-branded black bat on that Stanford-branded white ball.

?It?s going to be fantastic,? said Romaine, who took his side all the way to the Caribbean island last week just for an opening ceremony, cocktail party and tour of the ground.

?It was interesting going down there to see how it is all going to work out ? and it looks incredible.

?They talk about the $11m for Bermuda cricket, but this Allen Stanford character has put $36m into just one tournament ? and you can see where the money has gone.

?The ground looks fantastic with the big screens and the whole thing is so professional. You can see why he wanted to get us down there, it was great, we turned up, picked up all our Bermuda-branded golf shirts for the cocktail party and heard him speak.

?Then we got fitted for all our uniforms and picked up some of the equipment. Everything is done so professionally and it was great to be part of that.?

Romaine, never backwards in coming forward, marched up to the Texan billionaire who is funding this Caribbean cricket extravaganza and introduced himself.

?He has a clear goal for what he is trying to achieve and I like what he had to say,? continued Romaine, who led Bermuda?s run to the final in the 20-20 Classic in Bermuda earlier this year.

?It?s going to be a great event. All the facilities are first class and I think the fact that we have just been down there will help us ? sometimes when you go away you have to worry about transport to the ground and what the facilities are going to be like and that sort of thing but we don?t have to this time ? they are all fantastic.?

The skipper was also pleased with how the other nations, who also attended the opening ceremony, were all full of praise and good wishes for the World Cup-bound Bermuda team ? ?it is nice to know that the other islands are backing us?.

Romaine, who, like other skippers, will be wearing a microphone during the matches to allow for in-game interviews with the commentators to enhance the live TV coverage, is also excited about the incentives available to the players.

Man of the match in every game is worth $25,000, while ?play of the match? and the fastest ball bowled are worth another $10,000 each ? a very healthy boost for any player in a contest lasting around just three hours.

?Most teams have agreed to split any prizes among themselves ? us included ? but it certainly gives an incentive to do well,? he continued enthusiastically.

?It?s amazing the amounts of money being thrown around, it is going to make the competition very intense. The other incentive is to earn a place in the All-Star team to take on the South Africans in a $5m winner-takes-all game ? and the fact that you get three months intense cricket training in Antigua ahead of that if you are selected is just another bonus.

?There are great opportunities for everyone here. ?We are all looking forward to the game against Jamaica. Playing in the 20-20 Classic here will have helped us and we have also had games against both St. George?s and Somerset Cup Match teams to help us work on tactics.

?We know what we are doing, it is about getting used to the tactics and field placements. We will go down there in good shape for this.?

Bermuda take on Jamaica next Friday and victory in that match will see them return to Antigua the following week for the next round of competition.