Apart from one missing piece of personal luggage, Bermuda?s senior national cricket team arrived without incident in Port of Spain, Trinidad in the early hours of yesterday morning.

And after catching up on a few hours rest at the Frank Worrell Development Centre, the players were put through their paces during a rigorous four-hour indoor training session in the afternoon.

The look on many of the players? sweat-drenched faces spoke volumes as they were forced to quickly adjust to the warmer climate, and an isolated facility amidst uninhabited terrain proliferated by towering sugar cane plants.

?We are almost in a self-contained environment and totally isolated. There aren?t even any vehicles passing by that we can stop and get a ride from, and so naturally the fellows have no other choice but to turn to each other,? said Bermuda manager El James.

?This is where you really get to know your players and are forced to get along with each other. And naturally there?s going to be a bonding.?

It was at the very same facility just a year ago that Bermuda?s push for World Cup qualification really took flight.

?For the next ten days these individuals will be focused on nothing else but cricket,? James added. ?They will be eating and sleeping in a cricket environment. At night we can turn the lights on and have cricket here and if there?s nothing else to do they can go to the indoor nets and train there until they fall asleep.?

With senior team members Janeiro Tucker, Ryan Steede and Saleem Mukuddem unable to make the tour and skipper Clay Smith still recovering from knee surgery, the door has been opened for others to stake a claim in the team.

?Right now I think they all realise this is an opportunity to earn a spot in the team,? James said.

The team will hold another training session this morning (9.45 local time) at Gilbert Park and then return to the Frank Worrell Centre for an early afternoon (1 p.m.) session in the nets in preparation for tomorrow?s opening 50-overs friendly against Clark Road United at Wilson Road.

Coach Gus Logie, a native Trinidadian, is expected to name the squad later today.

National team skipper Smith is here assisting Logie along with manager James, who intends to take the squad to Queen?s Park Oval later this week to familiarise them with the oldest cricket ground in the Caribbean. Bermuda meet 1996 World Cup champions Sri Lanka in their opening 2007 World Cup Group B match at Queen?s Park Oval next March.

Like many other top grounds within the region, the famous facility ? which accommodates 25,000 spectators ? is currently under renovation.

?We would like to have the players walk out onto the field, have a real good look around and get the feel of it,? James explained. ?I think this is a good opportunity right now to get a feel for what is going to happen next year.?

James is delighted to see several youngsters included on this tour, among them Stephen Bremar jr, Jekon Edness, Treadwell Gibbons jr and Stefan Kelly.

?I think they are finally catching cricket fever and it will be interesting to see how they perform,? he added. ?Hopefully they won?t be nervous and be able to perform at the level that all of us know they can.?

With cricket on a high in Trinidad, Bermuda can certainly expect to find their work cut out for them against the local opposition.

?Last year we played against Dave Mohammed (spinner) and Denesh Ramadin (wicketkeeper) and quite a few others,? James said. ?This is the type of player and opposition we will be facing and so it?s not as though we hand picked the opposition.

?You have those that think winning is the only thing. But when you are talking about results first of all we are looking to get the guys acclimatised and get a feel of what is happening here and also the environment. We are also looking for them to bond and become confident.

?There?s just so many results we are looking for and if we can just pull all of the elements together, then the final result will be a winning combination.?

James, also a national team selector, is confident the local squad will acquit themselves well on tour, particularly debutants Azeem Pitcher, Bremar and Gibbons.

?It?s an opportunity for them and we will know the results next week. And hopefully we will return to Bermuda with a team that is cohesive and bonded together well and looking out for each other with every one of them having self-confidence, knowing that they are match winners.

?When you plant a seed, it doesn?t bear fruit overnight. It has to grow and be nurtured and that?s exactly what we are doing right now . . . planting the seeds of success and somewhere down the road we are going to reap the benefits.

?But we must also not just focus on the senior team, we must also look at the youth development that?s taking place. We just had a youth team (Under-15) down here playing against some great youngsters in the region and they did well. So already we are beginning to see the results from last year?s World Cup qualification and I think as time goes on we are going to see even more positive results.?