A 14-man Bermuda squad for the 20-20 World Cricket Classic was announced yesterday with three senior players unavailable for the recently-completed tour of Trinidad coming back into the fold.

Janeiro Tucker, Saleem Mukuddem and Ryan Steede return to the national team ranks while Irving Romaine ? who ably skippered the side in the Caribbean in the absence of a honeymooning Tucker ? retains the captaincy for now as the Southampton Rangers all-rounder fights to regain form and fitness after a month-long holiday in Europe.

Young batsmen Azeem Pitcher and Stephen Bremar jr have held on to their places thanks in no small part to a succession of encouraging performances during Bermuda's five-match tour of Gus Logie's homeland ? both hinting at far greater things to come as they mature.

And wicketkeeper-batsman Kwame Tucker ? who recently returned from a three-month stint playing club cricket in Australia ? is also included having been unavailable for Trinidad because of work commitments.

Back at the Bermuda Cricket Board's offices yesterday, Logie admitted that with team captain Clay Smith still recovering from knee surgery, David Hemp away with Glamorgan and George O'Brien jr nursing a niggling back complaint, the squad selected was probably the strongest currently at his disposal.

"It's nice to have some of the senior players available again," he said.

"The squad we took to Trinidad obviously contained a lot of youngsters and it was good to have an extended look at what they're capable of.

"But it's also important that the likes of Mukuddem and Tucker play together as often as possible in the lead-up to the World Cup."

Bermuda played their first ever 20-20 games in Trinidad ? winning the first and sensationally tying the second against club opposition.

This format of the game is undeniably controversial and has polarised cricketing opinion ? with traditionalists insisting that it is purely a marketing gimmick which does nothing to improve standards while others argue it plays a role in attracting more people to the game by making cricket an explosive, sexy sport.

Logie sits very firmly in the latter camp, adamant that 20-20 cricket can improve his players with 11 months to go before the World Cup provided they play properly and do not resort to brainless slogging.

"I've emphasised to the players that there is still room for proper cricket when playing 20-overs aside," he argued.

"Yes, that will come into it in the latter stages of an innings ? as it does when playing 50 overs ? but the basics still apply in terms of taking advantage of the fielding restrictions in the first six overs, hitting as straight as possible, keeping wickets in hand and running well between the wickets. All of these principals can still be applied to 20-20 ? it is just a matter of doing them a little quicker and thinking quicker on your feet.

"I don't want the games to develop purely into slog-fests because I can assure you the teams that stick to the basics and do them well will have a very strong chance of winning."

Bermuda kick off their Classic campaign on Sunday when they take on the might of the West Indies, with play scheduled to begin at 2 p.m., one hour after the opening ceremony at the National Sports Centre.