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A win can turn fortunes around - Moore

Don't forget: you can follow the action with our live commentary on our Follow it Live site. Tomorrow's game starts at 1am Bermuda time, and Josh Ball in Dubai will bring you ball by ball action.

The serious business of Bermuda's tour of Dubai gets under way tomorrow when they take on UAE in the first game at the ICC Global Cricket Academy ground.And head coach David Moore thinks that one win could be all his side needs to turn them into a force to be reckoned with.The Bermuda team have shown flashes of inspiration at times in the past year, but have also been dreadful on occasion, but Moore believes that a win against the likes of the UAE might make all the difference.“When you get a win under your belt, that people haven't expected, then you tend to start believing in yourself a bit more,” said Moore.“And I still believe in these players, that they are potentially very skilful young men.“But, unfortunately we continue to make poor decisions as key moments and we lose wickets when we shouldn't, or we bowl a bad three overs when we can't afford it, and the game turns on a 20 cent piece.“What we need to do is get that winning habit against quality teams. “If that win is to come tomorrow, or at any point over the next seven days, then Bermuda will have to cut out the silly mistakes and mental lapses that have cost them so dearly in the past.The presence of sports psychologist Dr David Scott, who is with the team, should help in that regard, as should the message that Moore has been banging into the players since his arrival in May.“We were bullied by Namibia, other teams have tried to bully us, but we have now got a bit of resolve in our side and we're not afraid of the challenge anymore,” said Moore.“I'm not really interested in whether people want to drink with us in the bar after the game to be quite honest, all I'm interested in is winning cricket games.“From all reports we're more aggressive and more competitive than we have been previously, people treated us like jokes (in the past), and to me that's the biggest insult you can have in sport.“We've got to stand up and put ourselves right in the contest, the boys have got to be proud of representing their country and if that isn't reflected in players' performances then we really need to start adjusting the personnel that we pick.”Fight, desire, and discipline can only take a team so far, in the end, if you're not as skilful as the other team then it sometimes doesn't matter how hard you fight.“The players are coming to understand the direction I think we need to take the team to try and achieve success,” said Moore‘But skills don't change overnight, long-term, skills don't change in two or three months, so it's still a matter of how our skill set stacks up to the opposition, both UAE and in the future.”Bermuda had their first practice session yesterday and have come through relatively unscathed.While several players are carrying slight knocks, only Kyle Hodsoll is listed as doubtful, although there are some concerns about Jason Anderson's sore back.Of the two, Anderson is certainly expected to play with physio Craig Brown working on him last night and today in order to get him ready.Hodsoll may miss the first game, but that will more than likely be just as a precaution, with Bermuda playing five matches in a week.“I think that this team is as strong as we have had all year,“ said Moore.A slight change to the itinerary means that Bermuda are expected to now play three of the five games against the senior UAE side, with the UAE Under-19s providing the opposition in the other matches.The last game meanwhile, on January 10, which was due to be played in Dubai, has now been switched to Sharjah.Not that Moore minds who his side play or where. “We've got to be able to beat anyone that is thrown up against us,“ he said, “and we have to beat teams that are ahead of us.“I'd imagine that the UAE under-19s would be a pretty good team, so we've really got to stand up and not take anyone for granted, that's for sure.”

Jim West during a fitness session at the ICC Global Cricket Academy in Dubai
Delyone Borden during a fitness session at the ICC Global Cricket Academy in Dubai
Fiqre Crockwell during a fitness session at the ICC Global Cricket Academy in Dubai
Jason Anderson during a fitness session at the ICC Global Cricket Academy in Dubai
Malachi Jones during a fitness session at the ICC Global Cricket Academy in Dubai
Jason Anderson during a fitness session at the ICC Global Cricket Academy in Dubai
Fiqre Crockwell takes a moment before today's (Monday) net session at the ICC Global Cricket Academy in Dubai
The first pitch at the ICC Global Cricket Academy in Dubai. While the academey is state of the art, the surrounding area is still a building site.
Waiting to start today's net session:Dion Stovell (helmet) and assistant coach, Clevie Wade (right).
Sports psychologist Dr David Scott (right) and assistant coach Clevie Wade have a brief discussion before today's net session at the ICC Global Cricket Academy in Dubai.
Jason Anderson, Lionel Cann and David Hemp during a fitness session at the ICC Global Cricket Academy in Dubai