Bermuda?s disastrous tour to the Middle East went from bad to worse yesterday following their fourth consecutive defeat at the hands of the United Arab Emirates.

The nine wicket annihilation in a day/night match in Sharjah was the heaviest loss so far, as Bermuda?s chronically poor batting proved their undoing once again.

By scraping together a total of only 138 for eight off their full 50 overs ? having won the toss and batted ? Bermuda have now failed to score 200 in three out of the four games, while not one batsman has earned the right to raise his bat in acknowledgement of a half century.

Furthermore, the national team have not won a limited overs match since they qualified for the World Cup by beating the USA on July 7 last year ? a run of defeats stretching to eight consecutive matches.

The stark reality of the team?s principal shortcoming was made even clearer yesterday by the fact that physio Daniel Morgan ? a former international but deemed unworthy of a place in this 14-man squad ? was joint top scorer with a mere 22, having been forced to take the place of an injured Saleem Mukuddem at number three in the order.

On top of this, Logie?s attempts to uncover an opening partnership of substance failed again as the sometimes explosive Lionel Cann (3) ? brought in as a pinch-hitter to exploit the fielding restrictions of the first 15 overs ? made little impact.

Dean Minors, who opened in the first two defeats, batted at number six this time and reached 21 while an unlikely lower-order contribution of 22 came from gangly seamer Ryan Steede.

Other than that there was precious little to excite, as top-order batsmen Stephen Outerbridge (14), vice-captain Irving Romaine (8) and Janeiro Tucker (8) were unable to deliver the big score so desperately craved.

In reply meanwhile, the UAE only needed to score at under three runs an over to secure victory, doing so with very little bother off 33.4 overs for the loss of a solitary wicket.

Dwayne Leverock, whose 20 overs in the last two games have decimated any ongoing concerns about his troublesome left ankle ? recorded figures of one for 44.

Speaking from the team hotel last night, stand-in captain Tucker offered few excuses, aside from pointing out that the UAE team ? bolstered by numerous Indian and Pakistani expatriates with experience of first-class cricket ? were significantly stronger than they had been at the ICC Trophy when Bermuda beat them by 30 runs.

?These guys we?re up against are extremely good players and have outplayed us in almost every respect,? he said.

?It?s as simple as that really. There are things I suppose that you?ve got to remember when assessing our performances so far. UAE?s season is right in full swing and they have a lot of cricket under their belts whereas we have just come off a break of two or three months. I mean, because of the wicket at the National Sports Centre we were not even able to get in the middle during our preparation.

?The wickets here have been a lot slower and a lot lower than we were expecting as well and with their sides being packed with good spinners, we haven?t adjusted very well. But we?re not interested in making excuses. We?re losing, we know why we?re losing and it is down to us to rectify those areas where we are falling short.?

To make matters worse, Tucker revealed, three of the squad?s senior players are still carrying injuries which could restrict their involvement in the final game tomorrow.

Mukuddem has a strained calf muscle, and having sat out yesterday?s drubbing is far from certain of being involved in any capacity.

Minors and Romaine meanwhile have sustained heavy bruising to fingers and ribs respectively and although willing to play, will be doing so in severe discomfort.

?The physio is working hard with all three of them but I?m not sure who is going to be ready for the game,? said Tucker.

?When results are going against you, the last thing you need are injuries to some of your most important players. We?re desperate to get a win in the final game and we need them to be involved and playing full parts. That is going to be difficult if they?re playing in pain so I?ve been calling on the physio to work some magic with my players.?