Bermuda head to Cayman Islands next month for the rescheduled North American Cup as favourites, with Canada and the United States absent.

Waldron’s side, ranked No 31 in the world in the T20 format, are set for a round-robin against Bahamas and the host nation at Jimmy Powell Oval, with preliminary matches scheduled from September 20 to 25.

After the round-robin, the second and third-placed teams meet in a play-off on September 26. The winner of that contest advances to face the top team in the final the next day.

“It’s an ideal opportunity for us to get back into international cricket,” Waldron told The Royal Gazette.

“It gives us a chance to make progress with the way the team has been going. We have to see if we’re improving and our key performance indicators are being met and sustained since the last qualifying rounds in Canada and Bermuda.

“It’s an opportunity to ensure that we are continuing with our development and the progression that we’ve outlined.

“It’s critical that the players that are selected understand what the team and individual objectives are to ensure that we are on the right path.

“We are looking forward to playing Cayman. They got the better of us the last time in Canada and quite obviously, we want to maintain our performance standards against Bahamas.

“We have an opportunity to play each team twice and then the winner will go on to the finals.

“It’s a grand opportunity for the development and progression of where we’re looking to be in 2027 and onwards.

“We’re going out there to perform to the best of our abilities, understanding what the objectives and the goals are per match and then overall for the tournament.”

Waldron is planning to get his players together for some sessions before they leave for Cayman.

“The team will start training,” the coach said.

“We’ve had conversations with the players and outlined the training schedule prior to departing for Cayman. There will be some opportunities for us to gather and have some training sessions.

“We will work on some individual and team tactics that prepare us for Cayman. We are looking forward to being competitive once we get out there.”

For Waldron’s side, the fixtures against Bahamas and Cayman will probably be their last competitive matches before the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Americas Regional Final next year.

“As far as ICC-organised and sanctioned matches, there doesn’t appear to be anything prior to the qualifiers next year,” the coach added.

“Hopefully, through cricket board collaboration, we’re able to either do some further skill development individually or collectively as a team.”

The second edition of the regional competition was postponed from April due to what was described at the time as logistical challenges.

Since then, Canada has joined the US on the list of cricket boards suspended by the International Cricket Council. The world cricket governing body is directly funding both the US and Canadian teams when they participate in global competitions.

“Canada and the US are suspended by the ICC,” Lloyd Smith, the Bermuda Cricket Board president said.

“Their funding is controlled by the ICC and that only allows them to play in ICC events for now. While the North American Cup is sanctioned by the ICC, it is not an ICC-funded event.”

In the inaugural edition of the North American Cup last year, Bermuda finished third. They recorded wins over Bahamas and Cayman, but lost to Canada and the US, with the Americans defeating the Canadians by six wickets in the final.