While the cricketing story of 2005 centred on Bermuda’s World Cup qualification and the extended bout of national euphoria that followed, it was perhaps inevitable that the events of 2006 would struggle to live up to those dizzy heights.

Although national coach Gus Logie did his very best to keep the nation’s burgeoning expectations in check, insisting that the best we could hope for at this stage was to become consistently the best Associate member in the Americas region, he was always likely to be fighting a losing battle on that front.

Without a functioning ground on which to play internationals, Bermuda spent 2006 travelling the world, from the Caribbean and North America to the UK, Africa and the Middle East.

And in truth, the results have been decidedly mixed, with signs of encouraging and tangible progress frequently being undermined by below-par performances against opposition they should be beating — or at least competing with.

The year could hardly have begun in worse fashion, with the team travelling to the United Arab Emirates in January and losing all five one-day games to the hosts.

Packed to bursting with imported expatriates from Pakistan and India, UAE were admittedly a far superior side to the one Bermuda beat at the ICC Trophy the previous summer, though ultimately that would provide scant consolation.

The team then laid low until April, apart from the first of three trips to Trinidad for training camps during the year, and returned home to take part in the inaugural 20-20 World Cricket Classic at the National Sports Centre.

In reaching the final of this entertaining slog-a-thon, inspired by the powerful six-hitting of Irving Romaine and Lionel Cann in particular, Bermuda for once seemed to have the country on their side and enjoyed the rare opportunity of playing in front of a noisy, packed house against South Africa in the competition’s final.

South Africa and their explosive batsmen proved too much for Romaine’s men on that day, but the feel-good factor which followed the tournament brought some welcome relief for the players, who had been derided as national embarrassments only three months earlier after the UAE debacle.

A Tri-Series at Trinidad’s Queen’s Park Oval followed in May, and though Bermuda did superbly well to overcome Canada in a tight opening game, the pummelling they received at the hands of Zimbabwe in the subsequent two matches provided a chilling reminder of the huge gulf in class between the Associate nations and even the lowest Full members of the International Cricket Council.

Back at home for only a matter of days after that, the team then headed off on what turned out to be a low-key, bizarrely-timed tour of the UK, where they lost in freezing conditions to the only team of any significant quality — Sussex’s 2nd XI — before going on to thrash a club side and a Guernsey team boasting one former county pro and nothing much else.

The team’s involvement in the inaugural Stanford 20-20 tournament in Antigua certainly brought something new and exciting to the table.

But getting bulldozed by Jamaica live on television, and being derided for their excessive weight while the country cringed in embarrassment was not exactly the “learning experience” coach Logie was looking for.

In the scheme of things though, the Stanford competition was not the be-all-and-end-all and after a short break, Bermuda headed north to Canada looking to fulfil Logie’s stated aim of becoming regional champions.

And after losing their opening Intercontinental Cup match to the hosts, the team delivered magnificently under pressure, beating Canada, the US, Argentina and the Cayman Islands to be crowned champions of the Americas.

Yet their topsy-turvy year continued on the last trip of 2006, this time to Kenya and South Africa, where despite the addition of Glamorgan captain David Hemp, the team found form hard to come by once again.

On the losing end of a draw against Kenya in the Intercontinental Cup, they then went on to lose all three ODIs in Nairobi and Mombasa before heading to South Africa for another Intercontinental Cup game against Holland and yet more limited-over clashes.

Hemp’s marvellous 247 as the team amassed in excess of 600 runs in Pretoria against the Dutch proved the highest-ever score in the competition’s short history and gave the squad a lift.

However, further defeats to Canada (twice) and Holland proved too much for the usually-reserved Logie, who rounded on his players in a blistering public attack.

The tongue-lashing certainly had an immediate effect, in that the team returned the next day to thrash Holland in their last game of the tour — but Bermuda still flew home for Christmas fully aware that they had let themselves down.

Off the field, the goings-on behind the scenes at the Bermuda Cricket Board at times provided an unwelcome distraction from the task of ensuring the team are as well prepared as possible for their World Cup adventure which begins this March.

The unprecedented amount of public money currently swelling the BCB’s coffers has proved to be both a help and a hindrance ever since the decision was first taken to pay at least some of the players for their services.

Scholarships, overseas tours, academy visits and improved facilities have all been natural by-products of the $11 million investment.

But the downside of this new-found wealth was never more evident than during the protracted contract negotiations which followed the decision to make at least 14 players full-time cricketers — with the bitterness between the Board and the players still lingering despite what they might say publicly.

Opinion was divided on the issue at the time. Some thought the players were justified in playing hard-ball and to fight for a larger slice of the pie. Others saw only a greedy bunch of prima donnas intent on making a sizeable profit before most likely having to return to normality after the World Cup.

Either way, the players are now comfortably the best-paid cricketers of any Associate nation.

And even Logie has admitted that the contract talks were partly responsible for the poor performances in Africa and they are now under more pressure to deliver than ever before.

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With the attention of most focused primarily on the national team’s fortunes, league cricket was for once forced to take a back seat.

Nevertheless, even without many of their national team stars for most the season, all-conquering Southampton Rangers still finished as the undisputed kings of local cricket, winning all four major domestic competitions in the Belco Cup, the Premier Two-Day and Limited Over leagues and the Premier Division Knockout Cup.

At Cup Match, a St. George’s team captained for the first time by Lionel Cann and inspired by the broad blades of both Charlie Marshall and OJ Pitcher proved too strong for challengers Somerset over a typically steamy two days at Somerset Cricket Club.

Marshall himself, who failed in his attempt to be reconsidered for the national team after being booted out last year, still topped the domestic batting averages — proving once again that he’s still one of the best batsmen on the Island despite his advancing years.

Women’s cricket also became properly organised for the first time in 2006, with former national team player Allan Douglas taking on the mantle of women’s coach.

And after a successful first tour to Canada in September, the girls are due to head to Pakistan at the end of next year to try and qualify for the 2009 World Cup in Australia.