Bermuda national cricket team approach 2012 with their international future on a knife edge and whether they climb back up the Associate rankings or fall further than anyone ever feared possible will largely depend on the players and their commitment to their country.Head coach David Moore has gathered his players for winter training as they prepare for the World Twenty20 Global Qualifiers in Dubai next March and begin a year-long build-up to the World Cricket League Division Three tournament in 2013.However, who will be part of the final squad for what is arguably the most important 18 months in Bermuda’s recent history is anyone’s guess, and much of it might end up being out of Moore’s hands.The Australian has been forced to use 39 different players over the course of 41 matches since he took charge and has been unable to field what might be considered the Island’s strongest XI on a single occasion. Of those 41 games, 28 have ended in defeat and there have been 13 victories.Defeat has not been confined to one form of the game either. Bermuda have struggled equally across the board, losing 11 Twenty20 matches, 16 limited overs matches, and one four-day game.Most of those defeats have come against sides higher up the Associate rankings, and UAE alone have defeated Bermuda eight times in different formats, with Bermuda winning just once in their nine encounters. In contrast they have comfortably beaten the likes of Cayman, Argentina, Bahamas and Hong Kong when they have faced them.The side’s troubles on the pitch can be directly linked to an unsettled squad off it. The loss of several key batsmen at various times has seen a far from settled top order and Fiqre Crockwell, Jason Anderson, David Hemp, Dion Stovell, Chris Foggo, Lionel Cann and Jekon Edness have all opened the batting at one time or another.When the batting line-up has been close to being at its strongest, then the bowling has invariably been weakened through injury, suspension and outside influences, and 19 different bowlers were used between May, 2010 and October this year.Edness is indicative of the issues surrounding the national team. As one of four specialist wicketkeepers used over the past 18 months he is considered one of the best on the Island, but opted to retire from international cricket in 2010 at the age of 27.Consistency often plays a key role in a team’s success, something the Island has not had and the team that played in the ICC Americas tournament in 2010 bore little resemblance to the one that took part in the World Cricket League Division Two tournament in April this year.Bowlers such as Jordan Desilva, Kevin Tucker, and Jim West gave way to Damali Bell, Lateef Trott and Kyle Hodsoll, all of whom have had to make up a bowling attack deprived on occasion of Malachi Jones, Justin Pitcher and Stefan Kelly.The last three on that list are largely recognised as the best three fast bowlers on the Island but have not played in the same team together since Moore took over.Injury and work commitments have played their part in dictating the make-up of the squad for some of the lesser matches, most notably on the ill-fated trip to Canada last September and the training camp in Dubai in January.However, poor attitudes and lack of desire have also been an issue and when it has come to important tournaments, and do or die situations, the Island’s better cricketers have been conspicuous by their absence, both on the field and off it.There was no better example of this than the disaster that was the Division Two tournament in April when Stephen Outerbridge and Justin Pitcher both made themselves unavailable, and Malachi Jones lasted exactly three overs before injury ended his participation.While Outerbridge and Pitcher might not have had enough of an impact to get their side past Namibia and UAE, they would have bolstered the Island’s chances against Uganda and Papua New Guinea where just one more win, or a loss where Bermuda batted for their full 50 overs, could have secured Division Two status.Pitcher returned for the final MCC game in October, hitting the winning runs and bowling with the pace and aggression he is known for. If the St David’s man can stay injury free and commit to the demands of international cricket then Bermuda might have reason to be hopeful.Outerbridge, too, is an important part of Bermuda’s future if he decides he wants to be and his willingness to train this winter seems to suggest that is the case.Others though have not been as willing, believing their past performances allow them to take a more lax approach, even though this is the type of attitude that has seen Bermuda lose roughly 68 percent of their games in the past 18 months.Dion Stovell told The Royal Gazette last week that when the senior players turn up the Island are hard to beat, but it is difficult to tell when it appears to happen so infrequently.