National team skipper Irving Romaine admitted yesterday that the enormity of the occasion and significance of the World Cup had finally hit home on the players' arrival in St. Vincent on Thursday night.

"When we got off the airplane and we didn't have to check through (either immigration or customs), the army were there guiding us straight onto a bus, surrounded by security officers . . . suddenly I think it really struck us that this is the big league and it's time, it's really time to play," Romaine told a press conference.

"You can't ask for anything better than this. This has to be the highlight of every single player's career. We just have to enjoy it and play the best we can. "It's everybody's dream to play in a World Cup and finally we're here.

"We all grew up playing in the back yard, dreaming of things like this and now here we are. We all really, really want to do it. We're all desperate to play well.

"And if someone really performs, you never know what could happen after this World Cup. Big things could happen."

Despite losing to both Bangladesh and Canada in Antigua last week, the ever-smiling Romaine said team morale remained high.

"We actually took a lot of confidence out of the Bangladesh result because we scored 200 and this wasn't one of our better batting performances," he added.

"We could have been looking at 250-plus easily. When we play Bangladesh again, that's exactly what we'll be looking for. We've seen what they have and we know we can do better. There are no butterflies now." Responding to a St. Vincent journalist who asked whether Bermuda were simply in the Caribbean "to have a good time", Romaine said: "We have to try and surprise one of these teams, that's why we're here. It's a game of cricket and, no, we're not just coming here to have a good time.

"I honestly think we can do something in this World Cup. We have to have that attitude and look forward to doing big things. We can't just lie down and give in. "Kenya made it all the way to the semis last time, you just never know what might happen in the game of cricket."

And Romaine had high praise for coach Gus Logie sitting beside him after the same journalist asked how the players responded to the Trinidadian's "mild-mannered" approach.

"Oh, Logie's a beast!" laughed the skipper.

"Seriously, though, he might be mild mannered but he gets his point across. And that's what has impressed us. We've had coaches in the past that have shouted at us and didn't get the response.

"Gus has everybody's respect - believe me!"