COULD it be that coach Mark Harper, manager Tom Wainwright and late withdrawal Clay Smith know something we don't?

During the past week all three have expressed optimism over Bermuda's chances at the Americas Cup cricket tournament which gets underway in and around Buenos Aires, Argentina, tomorrow.

Perhaps they're trying to put on a brave face. Certainly it's difficult to find a source for their confidence.

There's simply no evidence to suggest that the team can perform - even against the relatively weak opposition they will face in South America - any better than they did during last summer's miserable failure at the ICC Trophy.

Indeed, there's every reason to believe that the squad may be less prepared than they were prior to that trip to Canada.

The national team haven't played a single match since departing Toronto last July, training has been sketchy at best, and a slew of withdrawals by key players such as Smith, Albert Steede and Janeiro Tucker have left the top order of batting particularly vulnerable.

Coach Harper may publicly have stated that he believes his makeshift and largely inexperienced side have as good a chance as any of winning the six-team tournament.

But privately his opinion is likely far more realistic.

Despite Harper's experience at international level, such has been the chopping and changing of Bermuda's squad over the past few months he's had little opportunity to impart that knowledge, and virtually no chance to mould together a settled squad.

Of course, it would be wonderful if those finally selected could justify their coach's belief and prove the critics wrong.

But the signs haven't been encouraging.

All will be revealed over two short days this weekend. Tomorrow Bermuda play hosts Argentina, a country where most inhabitants wouldn't know one end of a cricket bat from the other. Anything less than a convincing victory for Harper's charges would represent a sad indictment on the current state of local cricket.

Conversely, the side will go into Sunday's match against World Cup qualifiers Canada as underdogs, although that would hardly have been the case five or six years ago.

If they can pull off an upset in that match, it might ignite team morale and set the stage for an improbable tournament victory.

It's a hard-to-imagine scenario, but with a new season just around the corner, one that could work wonders for the future of the sport. We wish them well.

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JUST what was Dwight Basden thinking when he ignored demands that he be substituted during last Sunday's Premier Division soccer match at Somerset?

According to those who witnessed the incident, including referee Cal Simons, it was one of the most bizarre scenes in the history of the local game.

Despite repeated calls from coach Mark Trott, and even club president Colin Smith, the Trojans skipper refused to leave the pitch. And there wasn't a thing anybody, including referee Simons, could do about it.

Or was there?

Wouldn't it have been better, given this was the Trojans last match of the season and little was at stake, if Trott or Smith had pulled the entire team off the field and left Basden to play by himself?

He obviously was of the opinion that he was bigger than either the team or the club.

As captain and a veteran of the side, Basden might have been looked upon as one to set an example.

Instead he brought enormous shame on both himself and his team-mates.

Hopefully, at the very least, Somerset will strip him of the captaincy and let it be known that he's free to move to another club.

But with that ego, who on earth would want him?

- ADRIAN ROBSON