National coach Gus Logie said yesterday he had called upon his own experiences as a player to help inspire Bermuda as they finalised preparation for the biggest games in the Island’s cricket history.

Citing his own battles when he was continually forced to justify his selection in a West Indies career that spanned 52 Test matches and 158 ODIs, Logie said: “My own experience as a coach and even as a player has always been as the underdog. I’ve always been in a situation where I’ve been fighting against the odds.

“So what I hope I bring to the team is a message that, yes, they can do it.

“If you look at my career with the West Indies, if there was anybody to be left out of the team it was always Gus Logie.

“So it’s something I’ve always had to fight against and I’m still here today contributing to cricket with another country, still as the underdog.

“What the players need to understand at the end of the day is that you have to back yourselves, believe in your own ability. Whatever negatives there are, you have to turn them around.

“Because of my own experiences, I think can I try to help the players just believe in their own ability.”

Following losses against both Bangladesh and Canada last week, their fourth straight to their Americas rivals, Bermuda now face even bigger challenges starting with England’s Freddie Flintoff, Michael Vaughan, Kevin Pietersen and co. at the Arnos Vale on Monday.

England’s star-studded squad arrived last night and headed straight for the expensive Beachcombers resort with reigning world champions Australia scheduled to arrive at a neighbouring hotel today. Bermuda’s players, meanwhile, have settled into the slightly less exotic New Haddon Hotel on the outskirts of Kingstown.

After yesterday’s rest day, when they were taken on a tour of Arnos Vale, venue for Monday’s match against England, they’ll be training at a nearby facility today, watched by Governor Sir John Vereker and Police Commissioner George Jackson — a native of St. Vincent.

Both will be in the crowd on Monday when the teams will be allowed to field a total of 13 players during the 50-overs warm-up match.

England skipper Vaughan has already said he hopes to play a part in the game as he recovers from injury while two Bermuda players who found themselves on the sidelines last week, pace bowler Stefan Kelly and all-rounder Janeiro Tucker, have both been declared fully fit.

“Both have made full recoveries and they will be in the squad,” confirmed Logie.

Meanwhile, ahead of next week’s games against England and Zimbabwe (Thursday) and then Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh in the World Cup group games, Logie said he had urged all of his players to think seriously about how these matches would impact upon their lives and those around them.

“As I’ve said to these players, it must mean so much to them to represent their country. You can’t just go out there as individuals. There’s 60,000 odd people in your country watching. Think about what they’ll be saying at the end of the World Cup when you as a team did well, and when you as an individual did well. There’s so much to play for.

“I have my own memories. In 1983, we (West Indies) reached the final. Unfortunately we lost to India. What I saw then was the passion and emotions of some of the great players, Sir Viv Richards and Clive Lloyd, sitting in the dressing room crying.

“That lifted me in my own career, it showed just how much the game meant to them.”

Logie also took the opportunity yesterday to respond to comments made by former West Indian pace bowler Michael Holding who told The Royal Gazette he believed the inclusion of teams such as Bermuda “devalued” the World Cup.

“He’s entitled to his opinion”, said Logie, “but we are here because we had an opportunity in Ireland two years ago, given by the ICC, to allow five teams to qualify for the World Cup. And we took that opportunity.

“Previous World Cups have had a similar situation. And we’ve seen teams in previous World Cups who’ve been considered underdogs but who have done well.

“At the end of the day, what is the World Cup about, is it just about the big teams or is it about showcasing cricket to the whole world?

“You look at soccer, it’s spread far and wide (because of tournaments like the World Cup). I think this is an opportunity for teams like Bermuda, Ireland and Scotland to show what they can do. And we will all try to do the best that we can.”