Coach Gus Logie has defended his decision not to play either Stefan Kelly, Malachi Jones or Kwame Tucker in Bermuda’s final World Cup game against Bangladesh, arguing he would have been undermining the competition’s “integrity” if he had not picked what he thought was the best side.

At the time and in the weeks since the squad returned home from Trinidad, there have been some — including at least one of the national team selectors — who have privately disagreed with the coach’s decision not to give a World Cup debut to either Kelly or Tucker, particularly as the team’s chances of getting through to the Super Eights were virtually nil.

Kelly, a promising 18-year-old seamer in his final year at Oakham School in the UK, played only against Zimbabwe in a warm-up game in St. Vincent while reserve wicketkeeper Tucker didn’t get a look-in after being dismissed cheaply against England.

There was also a strong argument for including the 17-year-old Jones in the Bangladesh game, particularly after his promising early form against India and the fact that the moist Queen’s Park Oval pitch offered the prospect of extravagant seam movement.

Indeed, Logie had told The Royal Gazette only a few days before the game that he was leaning heavily towards giving everybody a chance to savour the World Cup atmosphere — only to go back on that statement when it came to team selection.

The Trinidadian was sticking to his guns yesterday, however, insisting that with Bangladesh having to win the match in order to advance to the Super Eights, he had had a responsibility to pick what he and skipper Irving Romaine perceived was the best side.

“What you’ve got to understand was that the game was an important one from Bangladesh’s perspective,” he said.

“And while I would have liked to have given Stefan and Kwame a game, not to have picked the best team would have compromised not only our integrity but also the integrity of the World Cup.

“If both teams had absolutely no chance of progressing then I don’t think there would have been anything wrong with giving players some experience.

“But that wasn’t the case in this instance and in this day and age, with all the match-fixing allegations surrounding international cricket and the suspicion that some teams or individuals deliberately under-perform for money, as coach I had a responsibility ensure we gave Bangladesh the biggest test possible.

“That’s why we went with the team we did and in the end we did OK in difficult circumstances.”