GUS Logie's philosophy of "any cricket is good cricket" will be put to the strongest possible test next week as a depleted squad head down to Trinidad on Sunday.

The inspirational former Windies Test star has long espoused that all forms of cricket, be they four-day games, three-day games, 20-20 outings against retired international stars or just intra-squad scenario-based training sessions are good for the Bermuda players.

Even the humiliating manner of back-to-back defeats against a Namibian team featuring more than a smattering of schoolboys gave Logie and his men "something to take away" ? all experience is worth garnering as it can only help the team long-term in their World CUp preparations.

The expressions "learning experience", "steep learning curve" and "something to think about" were bandied around with ease following a somewhat unsuccessful tour to Dubai earlier this year.

A depleted squad in their first serious outing since last November took on a team bolstered by international ringers in the middle of their season with the results being as close to disastrous as one can get.

The Disaster in the Desert tour shows what can happen when a Bermuda squad that perhaps punched above its weight in qualifying for the World Cup in Ireland last year can look like when stripped of some top players and forced to play in an unfamiliar environment without proper preparation.

Poor Logie may have a similar problem next week.

Despite the signing of the island's first semi-professional contracts ? which was expected to herald a new era for national team availability ? Logie has not got the squad he wants for this camp.

It is difficult to place the blame squarely at anyone's door, however. Clay Smith is recovering from a planned surgery and, by going down in a coaching capacity, will still be able to be involved in the team bonding, tactics, discussion side of the tour even if not actually playing.

Janeiro Tucker, so often a hero as a batsman and stand-in skipper, is taking a honeymoon, a trip around Europe planned well before there was talk of being holed up in the Frank Worrell Centre.

More worrying is the unavailability of other contracted players for work reasons. Although details on exactly who is going remain sketchy ? and that, in itself, says a lot ? there has been much talk of players struggling to get out of work, or being forced to take the cricket trips as holiday, and therefore creating problems for potentially more important and competitive trips later in the year.

A couple of chance injuries haven't helped with the loss of players like George O'Brien Jr., who everyone wants to see apply his raw pace after some refinement courtesy of his Australian academy, and doubts over fellow rising star Rodney (Picnic) Trott.

So depleted is the squad that, according to the latest reports, the official schedule of matches to accompany the training camp has not yet been released with the Bermuda contingent unsure how many players will go (and how strong the team will be) making organising fixtures a little tricky.

It is more likely to be the case that the matches will be arranged on an ad hoc basis once in Trinidad, surely not an ideal way to organise a trip for a group of semi-professional cricketers less than a year away from their first World Cup tie.

Any cricket is good cricket, but more organised cricket with a full squad is better cricket.