Bermuda coach Cal Waldron has been left disheartened by the team’s performance in the ICC T20 World Cup Americas Regional Final.

Waldron’s side finished second in the group, six points behind winners Canada, who qualified for the global tournament that will be hosted by India and Sri Lanka next year.

Unlike in 2023 when Bermuda played on home soil and were denied a place in the World Cup only on net run-rate, an historic first defeat by Cayman Islands in their penultimate game left them some way short of qualification.

“I’m first disappointed that we didn’t make it and achieve our goal,” Waldron told The Royal Gazette.

“We would have liked to have won it and then the hard work would have started, but if you look at where we are and the shortcomings that we had, then you put it into perspective that the better teams on the day won.

“We didn’t bat, bowl or field well, so until we’re able to be consistent in all facets of the game, then we have to take it for what it is.”

“There was a lot of learning that went on. The players and the coaches understand as a team what needs to be done to get us across the line.”

One of the lowest points of the tournament came with the nine-wicket loss to Cayman Islands, who had never beaten Bermuda before, but Waldron was keen to credit their opponents rather than blame his team.

“Credit to Cayman, they had a player [Jermaine Baker] that finished with the most runs,” the Bermuda coach said.

“He also finished as the MVP of the tournament, so they came to play and we have to give credit where it's due. They did everything in the match to put them in a position to accomplish their goals.”

In their final game against Canada on Sunday, Bermuda suffered a staggering middle-order collapse, sliding from 100 for two in ten overs to be bowled out for 131 in 18.3 overs.

“That was not ideal,” Waldron said. “People went in after the tempo had been set and the match was looking good; they needed to carry on.”

The absence of Kamau Leverock, who failed to agree payment terms with the Bermuda Cricket Board in order to be selected, was keenly felt. Leverock would have been expected to open the batting and bowling, but Waldron nevertheless feels the side had a good balance.

“The balance was there,” Waldron said. “But we still need to get to the finer points of giving the players the skill set to execute what we’re asking them to do.

“We’re looking at introducing some other players based on the skill sets that we need. We've got to look at the data and the stats; it’s no good taking a player just by name.

“We have to look at what it is that we need players to do in the team, and then select based on players that are doing it. We have to look at people in those scenarios so that it makes it a lot easier to identify a person for the role, rather than a role for the person.”

Youngsters Marcus Scotland, Jarryd Richardson and Jermal Proctor are viewed as the future of the team, but they struggled to feature in the starting XI, with Scotland playing three of the six games, and Proctor and Richardson appearing only once.

Waldron insists their absences can be explained with injury. “Unfortunately, Proctor got injured,” he said.

“Through treatment and trying to get him back to match fitness, it was impossible. Marcus didn't play the last few games because he had a back strain that he couldn’t get rid of. We had to look at the overall strategic plan of getting athletes to play competitively in this short span of time.

“It’s about the players taking initiatives to get in better condition as well as the board helping the players to be in that condition.”

With Bermuda’s next international assignment not likely to take place until 2026 when they compete in the North American Cup, Waldron wants some introspection by his players and staff.

“We have to look at where we’re going and how we’re going to get there, in a realistic sense,” Waldron said.

“The ideal thing would be to play more matches in this format against stronger opposition. In that way, the things that we’re asking the players to do become second nature.

“Hopefully, we can get into higher-grade cricket where our players are in that environment more often. We have to keep abreast of the T20 scene where the targets are forever changing.”