Bermuda's Americas championship in the recently completed ICC Intercontinental Cup competition in Toronto will have done much to boost the confidence of the Island's cricketers and to have silenced their doubters.

The championship came after the Bermuda side took a drubbing against Jamaica in July's Stanford 20-20 competition in Antigua and its failure ten days ago to hang on for a draw against Canada in the four-day match that preceded the Cup.

The fact that Bermuda bounced back from these two results to beat rival Canada and to sweep through the tournament unbeaten says much for their spirit and teamwork, because the true test of a team's mettle comes when they encounter adversity, not when things are going well.

To be sure, Bermuda benefited both from the extraordinary disarray among Canada's selectors and from the rain when they were being given a reasonably torrid time by the USA. But that is the nature of sport. Just as truly professional teams should not blame the umpire, poor conditions or the bounce of the ball when things are going badly for them, so they should take advantage when the opportunity arises. Bermuda did that.

Coach Gus Logie and the Cricket Board rightly warned against getting too excited about the recent triumph. Everything that has happened since the ICC Trophy last July needs to be geared towards the World Cup in the Caribbean, which is now little more than seven months away.

Bermuda's goal there must be to perform respectably against opponents Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India that are all ranked considerably higher than this small Island. But the lessons learned in the World Cup preparations are good ones. As Mr. Logie noted earlier this month, the players need to "cherish" their innings, to bowl with good line and length and, perhaps most importantly, to field efficiently and hold their catches.

One of the most encouraging things about the Canadian tour was the solid batting of past and future captain Clay Smith, who made a successful international return after a long layoff due to injury.

His masterful innings in a losing cause in the four-day match against Canada was perhaps the innings of the tour, even more so than the centuries scored in the one-day matches.

Why? Because Bermuda needed to stay at the wicket in that match in order to salvage a draw, rather than go for a big score. In that innings alone, Mr. Smith showed why he is so important to Bermuda and every effort must be made to keep him fit in the run-up to the World Cup.

There were other encouraging signs as well, notably the emergence of Stephen Outerbridge as a reliable opener and the improved performances of the bowlers. However, there have been bright periods for Bermuda that have been followed by problems before, not least when the team did very well last summer in Toronto only to be put to the sword in Namibia.

With a second African tour looming against very capable opposition, it is important that Bermuda apply the lessons that have been learned in the last year. To some extent, the team are victims of the high expectations that have been put upon it, not the least of which is the $11 million grant made available by Government. This newspaper's view is that that was probably too much money too soon, but the decision has been made and it is up to the Bermuda Cricket Board to make sure the money is sensibly spent.

What has to be remembered is that while the senior cricketers' focus is rightly on the World Cup, the Bermuda Cricket Board and the community need to look further ahead and big investments need to be made in youth and club cricket to establish a solid foundation for cricket.

To a great extent this is already under way, but these investments will not bear fruit until well after next year. In the meantime, Bermuda will continue to play increasingly tougher competition and it is important that neither the players nor the community get too euphoric when the team wins or too depressed when it loses.

The Board's plans are to have a team prepared to play respectably in the World Cup, and that will be enough for now.