History was made at Bermuda Cricket Board headquarters yesterday as the first squad ever to represent Bermuda in the World Cup was officially announced to the public.

BCB president Reggie Pearman ended 19 months of speculation over the final composition of the squad by naming those who will fly the Island?s banner on world cricket?s biggest stage in the West Indies next month.

Bermuda has been placed in Group B along with former World Cup champions Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh. The Island takes on Sri Lanka in their opening World Cup Group B preliminary match at the refurbished Queen?s Park Oval in Trinidad and Tobago ? home land of national team coach Gus Logie ? on March 15, India on March 19 and Bangladesh on March 25 with hopes of advancing to the ?Super Eight?.

Pearman said yesterday that he was satisfied with the way World Cup preparations had gone before saluting those who will represent Bermuda next month in the Caribbean.

Irving Romaine will captain the team which has undergone minor changes from the squad that recently competed in the ICC World Cricket League in Kenya. The squad includes talented all-rounder Malachi Jones, who at 17 will be one of the youngest players ever to participate in the World Cup.

?I congratulate the players on making the final 15 and wish them well as they represent our country in the world?s third largest sporting event,? the BCB chief added.

?I also take this opportunity to remind our squad that they are ambassadors of our country on and off the field, and expect they will represent us appropriately.?

Yesterday?s announcement also put to an end continuous chopping and changing in a quest to find the right nucleus and chemistry for chairman of national team selectors Arnold Manders and a committee which also includes former star batsmen Lionel Thomas and Albert Steede.

Manders, the third batsman ever to score two centuries in Cup Match, said yesterday that he is ?confident? those chosen are the best cricketers the Island has to offer.

He added that qualifying alone for this historic event is in itself a ?remarkable sporting achievement? for a country of Bermuda?s size. ?Our programme is the envy of the Associate cricket world and we can rest assured that no stone has been left unturned to ready for this event,? the former national team skipper said.

?And I am confident that we have determined the best cricketers to represent Bermuda next month.?

Meanwhile, National coach Logie ? currently preparing the national cricket squad for upcoming One Day International (ODI) against Bangladesh and Canada in Antigua later this month ? empathised with those who were left out of the Island?s first World Cup squad.

?There?s always going to be players left out who feel they should be in. That?s an accepted norm and we empathise with those players and encourage them to keep working,? the former West Indies vice captain and coach said. ?It?s never easy. And, as I said before, selection is not an exact science.?