If today’s match against England is special for all of Bermuda’s players, it’s perhaps even more so for the team’s ‘limey’ recruit David Hemp.

On first-name terms with nearly all of the England squad, the Glamorgan skipper frequently comes face to face with the country’s star players during the English county season.

And he’d like nothing more than to get one over them in a match that will be watched world-wide on TV and in which, in the English media at least, he will be the centre of attention.

“Maybe the focus will be on me, but I try not to think about that,” said the 36-year-old, whose patchy form in the run-up to the World Cup has attracted criticism from some quarters.

“At the end of the day, I’m here to do a job, to score runs and I’ve got to get on with it. I can’t put myself under too much pressure, it’s hard enough as it is. So I try to keep away from that (media pressure).

“But it’ll be a challenge, I’ll enjoy it. If you don’t worry about the challenge, you’ve got more chance of performing.

“I’ve played against England before, representing Wales which was basically a Glamorgan side. We played them three years on the trot as a warm-up for them when they had series at home. That was fun, that was interesting, and we did manage to beat them on the first occasion and I’d love to repeat that on Monday.”

Hemp doesn’t attempt to hide the fact that his dream was once to play for England.

But the chance to now play against them on the eve of the sport’s greatest showpiece was an occasion he would cherish. “Obviously it’s a bit of a funny situation for me”, he mused.

“You play county cricket with ambitions to go further up and obviously represent England, if you do well at county level. Unfortunately it didn’t happen in my case but fortunately for me, being born in Bermuda, it’s given me the opportunity of playing in this World Cup against England.

“And I’m looking forward to it very much.”

The early order bat, however, admitted he expected some “lightweight sledging” once he got out to the crease.

“I’ve no doubt there will be some friendly banter exchanged,” he smiled. “But then that’s part of the game, they’re here to win the World Cup and Bermuda’s here to put up a good performance and also try to get as far as we can.

“Even though it’s a practice game it is in essence a major part of preparation for the tournament so there’s no point in going into it in a friendly way. We’ve got to try and win and that’s what we’re going to try to do.

“It will be difficult because England have just won their Commonwealth series against Australia when they came back really well after people had written them off completely.

“You have to take your hats off to the players and their coaching staff for they way they came back. So they’re going to be excited coming into the World Cup.

“I’m sure they’ll be thinking, hang on we’ve just beaten Australia at home, we’ve got a great chance of winning the World Cup and I’m sure, on the back of it, they will be very confident.

“So on Monday it’s going to be a very difficult game for us.

“They won’t want to lose. Any game for them is a big game, they’re representing England, so it doesn’t matter who you’re playing, if you’re representing your country it’s a big game.

“They’ll be looking to put in a good performance and continue their momentum. And it’s up to us to try and stop them and try and get the most out of it we can. We need the practice, we need to get people firing, so it’s a big game for us ahead of our group games.”

Of his own form, Hemp admitted he was frustrated he hadn’t been able to contribute as many runs as he’d hoped.

“It’s been frustrating more than anything else,” he continued.

“I’ve been playing well in the nets and then I’ve either been getting out very early for no real apparent or specific reason, and when I have got in I’ve sort of got to the 20s and 30s and then got out. So that’s why it’s been so frustrating.

“But overall I’m fairly pleased because in the nets I’m feeling good, my feet are moving well and it’s just a matter of sticking to what I know and to my own game plan and hopefully I can turn my form around.”