Bermuda will face a Namibia team with their tails up when the two meet in the Intercontinental Shield in Namibia in April.

The home side finished third in Zimbabwe's domestic Twenty20 competition last week, after beating Matabeleland Tuskers by 31 runs, and are full of confidence going into a game coach Johan Rudolph described as 'crucial'.

Rudolph's side lost their opening Shield game to United Arab Emirates by four wickets in December, a result that still has their coach seething.

"I still believe UAE didn't win the match, we lost it due to very bad fielding and catching," he said. "The Bermuda game is a crucial match for us to stay in the competition.

"We will be prepared, in fact we are already in the process of looking at a couple of players and various combinations. All our senior players will have enough match time before the start of the match against Bermuda.

"We wont underestimate our opponents and will prepare for this match to the best of our ability."

Like the visitors, Rudolph's side dropped into Division Two following a less than successful World Cup qualifiers in April last year, and that was despite his team winning all six of their Intercontinental Cup matches in 2007-2008.

Needless to say, getting back into the top level of Associate cricket is the top priority.

"We're very disappointed not to be playing in the Intercontinental Cup, having played in the finals last year," said Rudolph.

"We also weren't invited to the Twenty20 qualifier, we are in Division Two, but the USA from Division Five, (ranked 35th), were invited so I dont understand the ranking systems and what it's worth. Maybe it's more about the commercial side of the game officials are interested in."

Not that Namibia have allowed themselves to be distracted by their disappointment. As well as their success in the Twenty20 competition, the side have also had a strong year in their three-day contest, the CSA Provincial Challenge, which saw them take on teams from across Southern Africa.

A number of their top batsmen made good hundreds, with the absence of several senior players giving youngsters like teenage opener Raymond van Schoor the chance to shine.

Van Schoor, who also keeps wicket, made 87 against UAE in his side's first innings, having scored 141 against Easterns in the CSA competition, and has already made a thousand first class runs.

"I'm very happy with the performances up to date," said Rudolph. "We had a bad start to the CSA Amateur competition in the second half of the season. Batsman who made all the runs in the beginning of the season really struggled to get bat on ball and we struggled to get any momentum.

"The pro 20 Stanbic comp in Zimbabwe turned things around and the players got their confidence back on track."

For Rudolph the season has had its ups and downs, with the loss of some senior players having both a positive and a negative affect on the team.

"Most pleasing was the batsmen scoring hundreds in the beginning of the season and the Stanbic pro 20 series in Zimbabwe," he said. "We really played against top opposition and the boys played out of their skin. Fielding and bowling was first class.

"Most disappointing was not performing as well as we could in the second half of the season.

"Not having all our senior players available for a three week tour in SA during the SA comp didn't help, the youngsters really struggled against franchise players, but it was good exposure for them."

As it turns out that exposure is likely to do Namibia the power of good when they face Bermuda in April, and the fact that some of the senior players missed games could also be something of a blessing.

"As mentioned some senior players were not available due to work commitments and this gave some youngsters exposure playing first class cricket," said Rudolph. "But after a long season it means players are not tired and the management really went out of their way to accommodate everyone."