as the narrow win over an experimental Leicestershire side that was the big plus from the six-match tour by Bermuda's cricketers.

Nothing would have been more frustrating or wasteful for the players than languishing in the pavilions waiting for an end to the downpours, which disrupted two Test matches and more than a few county games. But the sun shone on the tourists and they responded by living up to their promise that the trip would be a learning experience.

Friday's win was welcome but almost incidental and more satisfaction should be drawn from the individual performances during the two weeks. At one stage or another all the key batsmen made runs and all the main bowlers took wickets or kept the scoring rate down.

Charlie Marshall displayed new-found maturity to top the batting averages and was one of the only players to compete in all six matches.

The other, Dean Minors, obviously had the advantage of being the only regular wicket-keeper on tour but he would still have kept stiff competition at bay with some superb performances, never better than during the first three games when he did not concede a single bye.

Anthony (Pacer) Edwards was the pick of the bowlers but Kenny Phillips and Terry Burgess were never far behind and even Del Hollis, while expensive on occasions, found the mean streak demanded by his captain when he conceded only 35 runs from 11 overs against Minor Counties.

Only Darrin Lewis and Gary Brangman played fewer than the four games initially promised to each player. Both fell victim to the decision to field the strongest side in a bid to defeat Leicester, but both had already shown they have the potential to become fixtures in the national side.

Brangman was not the only bowler to suffer at the hands of Surrey and Worcester, but he was the best of the bunch with figures of one for 22 from 11 overs against Minor Counties.

Lewis had only one knock and did not bowl at all, but the vice-captain was busier than most off the field, studying Bermuda's opponents, noting changes in tactics and filing away all the information for use on future occasions when winning will be all-important.

But the fact that five games were lost is evidence that much work still has to be done, and the biggest problems can be summed up in two words -- consistency and concentration.

Too many batsmen lost their wickets before they could turn reasonable knocks into match-winning performances, and too many bowlers allowed their standards to slip during second or third spells.

Against Leicester and the MCC Young Cricketers the fielders were considerably more lively simply because they were in with a real chance of winning. But in all except the last match they also made vital errors, which brought painful lessons.

More than anything else, Bermuda's failure to win more than one game can be put down to their inability to take the chances offered by some top-class opponents.

CHARLIE MARSHALL -- Had an outstanding tour.