Nothing, not even Bermuda’s rather dismal run of one-day international results, seems to wipe that perpetual smile off the face of skipper Irving Romaine.

It’s the same whenever he’s introduced to the international media, as was the case prior to Sunday’s opening ceremony in Jamaica when the captains of all 12 teams were asked to assess their side’s chances.

Romaine had the press corps chuckling when he told them his biggest fear was that players in his side would be so overawed competing alongside the likes of superstars such as Sachin Tendulkar that they’d probably drop any chances that came their way.

On a more serious note, he told the same scribes that the Island’s World Cup build-up had been hampered by the lack of facilities in Bermuda and a shortage of quality players from which to select the squad.

“There are no practice facilities back home . . . the pitches have been ordinary and that’s why the ICC took back the warm-up games they had allotted to us for the World Cup,” said Romaine.

“And we only have a pool of players of around 30 to 45 to choose from.”

However, while as skipper Romaine is the team’s spokesman, it’s burly spinner Dwayne Leverock who continues to be the focus of attention among nearly all of the overseas media.

Even at Sunday’s opening, it was Leverock who was singled out by veteran cricket commentator Tony Cozier, the Barbadian describing him as “cricket’s heavyweight champion”. Since snaring the key wickets of Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood in last week’s defeat to England, Leverock’s picture has appeared in newspapers around the world.

Yesterday’s Mail of India claimed Bermuda was “getting all the press in the Caribbean solely because they have a spinner in Dwayne Leverock who must be the heaviest cricketer to have ever turned up on an international field.

“Leverock”, continued the article, “packs 19 stones, or 120 kg, and doesn’t look like a professional athlete by any stretch of the imagination. But he is useful as he showed by claiming Kevin Pietersen’s wicket . . . and Bermuda are at least happy that their side are getting unusual attention due to an unusual presence in their dressing room.”