Bermuda's national team cricketers put all but the finishing touches to their World Cup preparation campaign on a sweltering hot morning in Trinidad yesterday.

With now just one day remaining before tomorrow's historic opening match against Sri Lanka at the refurbished Queen's Park Oval — also the opening match in World Cup Group B — the players were filmed and interviewed by two separate national TV stations from India and observed by an assortment of international media as coach Gus Logie put them through their paces with a series of drills at the Sir Frank Worrell ground. India, with superstars such as Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, arrived at the same ground for an afternoon training session soon after Bermuda headed back to their hotel, while tomorrow's opponents Sri Lanka trained at Couva along with Bangladesh. Poorly prepared net pitches at the Worrell facility within the confines of the University of West Indies — the same pitches that South African players complained about last week — greeted Bermuda's batsmen and with the ball bouncing awkwardly there were a few tense moments, and some colourful language.

Veteran wicketkeeper Dean Minors was struck on the shoulder by a sharply rising Stefan Kelly delivery but not badly injured while skipper Irving Romaine had protective bandaging wrapped around his hand as he sought to protect an injury picked up while fielding against England last week.

But coach Logie will have a fully fit squad to choose from when he selects his final eleven to take on Sri Lanka tomorrow.

Logie said yesterday there was now little either he or his players could do to enhance their chances of pulling off what would rank as one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history.

"At this point in time the preparation in terms of the technical side of things is finished really and truly," he said.

"They've worked very hard over the last two years to get to this point and improve themselves. They're as ready as they're going to be.

"They're going to be coming up against players of the highest quality and not just us but all the Associate nations are going to be severely tested in this World Cup.

"It's the ultimate challenge for teams like Bermuda, Canada and others to take on the biggest and best teams in world cricket.

"From my point of view as a coach, right now it's all about sending out positive vibes to the players, ensuring that they play the ball and not the person and that they realise they're playing against human beings and not gods.

"We shouldn't be overawed against Sri Lanka and if we go out there and do the basics well there's no reason why we cannot emerge from the game with our heads held high."

Meanwhile, former skipper Clay Smith spoke yesterday about the injuries and the recent deaths of both his mother and his brother Ray — 'his biggest fan' — and how they had affected his build-up to the World Cup (see Page 17).

But he refused to make excuses for his recent dip in form, saying he still believed he could come good once the tournament began.

Bermuda's players will have their final training session at the Queen's Park Oval nets today before stepping out tomorrow at the same ground for the biggest day of their lives.