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Bermuda facing last chance to beat tourists

Allan Douglas Jnr will make his Bermuda’s debut today as the national team try to salvage something from a heavily one-sided MCC tour that has raised more questions than answers.So far the closest the Island’s national squad have come to beating the visiting side was their 35-run defeat in a Twenty20 game on Saturday.The abandonment of yesterday’s 50 over game due to the heavy rain that fell for most of the day leaves just a Twenty20 double-header at the National Sports Centre, with games starting at 1pm and 6pm, for David Moore’s team to register their first victory.“It would be nice to get a win,” said the Bermuda head coach. “Although we haven’t played great cricket, it has still been nice to see improvements from different players, bowling well and batting well, but it would be nice to get a win.”In the absence of a first victory over MCC, Moore would settle for seeing his side put in a couple of consistent performances and showing improvement in areas where they have struggled in the past.“We want to see some consistency, we want to see guys stand up and take responsibility and accountability for their performances, so it’s important for the guys to do that. But they’re still playing for opportunities in Dubai in March next year.”The World Twenty20 Global Qualifier in Dubai is likely to be the main focus of a winter training programme that is likely to see Moore name his next squad some time before November.While some players have not helped their cause in being unavailable, the likes of Lateef Trott, Tre Manders, Joshua Gilbert and Sammy Robinson have all seen their stock climb higher over the past two weeks.“The guys that were there today, they’ve worked hard during the week, they’ve committed themselves to playing and they’ve done themselves no harm,” said Moore.“Lateef (Trott) has improved with every outing, and as usual Damali (Bell) has played well when he’s had his chances. Stefan (Kelly) has been good, obviously Joshua Gilbert has been very good, and Sammy Robinson is improving with every outing.“I think the young guys are trying their very best and that’s key to us trying to move forward. We’ll move forward with whoever we’ve got.”Moore has struggled to raise a team on occasion despite naming a 25-man squad last month. Not so tomorrow, where he is oversubscribed for the first time in the past two weeks and players such as Douglas will be given a chance to make a bid for inclusion in the winter training programme.“You get to a point where you can no longer hope that things are going to happen you have to just accept that either we move on and have the guys that want to be with us, or they don’t,” said Moore.