Dear Sir,

Please allow me to express how great it was to finally see Bermuda's senior squad play at home. It has been four long years since Bermuda hosted an international match and although we lost, I believe there were plenty of positives we can take from the game.

First of all Stephen Outerbridge's century suggest that he has turned the corner and finally begun to turn promise into performance, second the evergreen Dwayne (Sluggo) Leverock claimed seven wickets to add to the ten he took against Canada, proving once and for all that he still has a lot to offer the team, and third the fielding was the best I've seen by a Bermuda team in a long time.

Unfortunately, I didn't have the opportunity to see the whole match but what I saw impressed me. On the first day, last Thursday, I watched half an hour before the lunch break, at the time Scotland were in defensive mode against some very good bowling. Only one wicket had fallen yet unlike Bermuda sides of the past our players remained alert and keen in the field looking for a breakthrough.

I also saw the last hour's play on Friday at the outset of Scotland's second innings and watched as George O'Brien, who incidentally looks fitter than I've seen him for sometime, tear through the Scottish top order, removing three of their first four batsmen in short order.

Finally, I watched the last wicket partnership between Leverock and O'Brien on Sunday and although for all intents and purposes the match was over, neither of the two surrendered their wickets without a fight. They fought tooth and nail and by the time O'Brien was finally out, they had put together a last wicket partnership of over 40 runs.

From my perspective, the future of Bermuda cricket looks bright. The team, though in rebuilding mode, is on the up and there are plenty of talented youngsters just waiting for their opportunity.

Is this squad our strongest from the perspective of talent? No! Are they committed? Yes! And that is all we as fans should expect, cricketers who are committed to the programme, willing to train when selected and prepared to give their best for Bermuda.

With players such as Tamari Tucker, Chris Douglas and Jordan DeSilva on the horizon, I believe our national team will go from strength to strength.

Finally, with international cricket on the 'back burner' at least until August, I guess I can watch a bit of domestic cricket. The Eastern Counties and Cup Match will be played over the next few weeks which should make interesting viewing but truth be told the 'zenith' for any cricketer or cricket fan has to be international cricket, country versus country, the ultimate test of a players temperament and skill and the platform upon which legends are born!

Think about it, Stephen Outerbridge will now go down in history as the first Bermuda batsman to score a century in an Intercontinental Cup game played in Bermuda – that can never be taken away from him!

RECMAN