Three St George’s players seized a prime opportunity to hone their skills for Cup Match, participating in a four-day training camp at the Ontario Cricket Academy in Canada.

Coach Clay Smith accompanied Jonté Smith, Nzari Paynter and Isaiah O’Brien on the trip. Their intensive training sessions included invaluable practice alongside Nicholas Kirton, the Canada captain.

Jonté Smith spoke of how the trip proved to be an eye-opening experience.

“It was an extremely valuable experience,” Smith said. “It truly opened my eyes to the rigorous level of training and the high degree of detail invested in cricket overseas.”

Smith highlighted the significant takeaways from the four-day programme. “I learnt a lot. I feel I have gained lessons that will profoundly help me improve our cricket programme back home.”

He added: “All our training was indoors, which showed me that Bermuda could greatly benefit from having a small indoor cricket facility.“

In a social-media post, the Ontario Cricket Academy expressed its satisfaction with the collaborative effort. “It was a pleasure to welcome some of Bermuda’s national team talent to the Ontario Cricket Academy for a week of intensive training,” the academy stated, detailing how coaches worked together to create sessions perfectly tailored to the players’ needs.

The group trained under the guidance of the St George’s coach and received additional support from Kirton.

“The high-performance camp served as preparation for the players ahead of the esteemed Cup Match in Bermuda. OCA’s Derek Perera and Clay Smith worked closely to tweak the high-performance sessions, combining their experience and insight to deliver a top-tier training programme,” Kirton said.

“This initiative reflects a huge and exemplary commitment by coach Clay Smith, who went above and beyond to provide his players with world-class training opportunities.”

Perera was pleased that the academy he established in 2003 is receiving broader recognition.

“I’m incredibly honoured that OCA is now being recognised globally for our excellence in coaching and infrastructure,“ the former Canada player said.