Clay Smith, the new coach of the national under-19 cricket team has taken charge of his first training sessions with the squad.

Smith, a former coach of Bermuda’s senior team, has replaced new Somerset coach Janeiro Tucker and will lead the side into action at the ICC Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup Americas Qualifiers, which will be held in the United States in August.

During the recent school holidays, Smith was able to hold some training sessions for some of the senior players and prospective members of the squad.

“We had two days of trials so we can take a good look at some of the players we have and we had a good turnout,” Smith said.

“We had 20 players for both days and it was very productive. Myself and Reggie Tucker coached the boys and we’re happy with what we see so far. We’re continuing to train on Mondays and Fridays and we’re going to put the work in for the next few months.”

The job of the under-19 coach can be difficult with many senior players in education abroad and the ones left on island lacking regular game time.

“It’s difficult because most of those guys that are away, the majority of them are senior players and the more advanced players in the group,” Smith said.

“But that’s a good thing as it means they are training, playing a lot and receiving some good coaching and exposure in England. For the guys here, we’re just trying to keep them grounded and focused.

“The two Lukes [Fulton and Horan] are overseas along with Zeri Tomlinson. Isaiah O’Brien is here and just came off a successful tour to South Africa with a team from Canada.

“On top of that, Keegan Jones is playing 50 overs cricket with Flatts and was at the last under-19 tournament. Sa-Qui Robinson is playing with St David’s and a lot of them have good experience behind them for their age.

“There are a few others who caught my eye that could also potentially help the team tremendously and we’re expecting good things from them.”

While those at the senior end of the age group can draw on their experiences, Smith is hoping that some of the younger players can get exposure to the game by playing in the domestic men’s league.

“There are some young ones coming along in the 15 to 16 age group that are a little bit raw and there are things we have to work on,” Smith said.

“Our time is limited and we really have to focus on improving their basic skill level to get them up to speed. It’s not going to be easy but we’ll manage them as best we can.

"We want these young guys to play as much as possible. Two or three guys we took a look at told us that they were not actually registered with a team so I encouraged them to join one. If I need to make one or two phone calls to get them playing so be it because that will benefit them. If they can find a club where they can play every week it will help us in the long run.“

Bermuda will take on USA, Canada, Argentina and Suriname at the Americas Qualifiers in 2023 but Smith is expecting better performances, especially against the region’s powerhouses, this time around.

“I’m a believer that Bermuda can always be competitive at the right time,” Smith said.

“It goes around in cycles. If you look at the guys that went to the tournament last year, the majority of them are now still able to play in this tournament, so the expectation would be that this group will be a lot more competitive than last time.

“That happens every ten years that you get a really good group. If you look back at the history of Bermuda cricket at this level, you had the Terryn Fray, Chris Douglas and Rodney Trott era and then had to wait a few years for the Delray Rawlins and Alex Dore era.

“We can be competitive but it comes in cycles when we get a good group. My expectation is that these guys can be competitive.”

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