IF Clay Smith has had the odd sleepless night over the past couple of weeks, it would hardly be surprising.

The frustration endured by Bermuda's national cricket team skipper must have been almost unbearable.

Throughout last week's one-day Americas Championship and this week's Intercontinental Cup three-day tournament, Smith upheld his end of the bargain. He batted with authority mixed with panache and he fielded with unyielding enthusiasm, in short, he led by example.

There's absolutely no doubt that he's the man for the job.

But what a pity he so rarely gets the support he deserves.

If everyone around him had shown the same application, Bermuda could quite easily fulfilled Smith's prediction of winning outright last week's tournament, and then this week given the USA a much better run for their money than they did.

While the two weeks of international cricket we've witnessed on local soil have produced a few encouraging performances from local players - the names of Saleem Mukuddem, Delyone Borden and Dwayne Leverock spring immediately to mind - few have shown the same consistency as Smith.

Sloppy, irresponsible batting, wayward bowling and way too many dropped catches have combined to make Bermuda a very ordinary side.

And that must irritate the heck out of the skipper, who knows all too well the players he has around him are capable of performing so much better.

Make no mistake, the absence of a genuine pace bowler apart, this Island side is gifted with ample talent. It has the ability to beat Canada and USA at both the long and short version of the game.

But, unfortunately, the burning desire for international success which is so evident in Smith's body language isn't always duplicated by his team-mates.

It's as if they don't believe in their own ability, they're almost willing to accept mediocrity.

It might have been enough to earn third place in the Americas Championship and a spot in the ICC Trophy, but it certainly won't be sufficient to catapult Bermuda into the World Cup when the real tournament gets underway in Ireland next year.

Much has been made of Bermuda's lack of preparation for their recent matches, and it goes without saying that the Cricket Board will need to seriously review their fixture calendar before the players embark on the trip to Dublin next summer.

But match practice apart, the Board might also want to ponder the services of a sports psychologist.

Somebody needs to convince these players they're a whole lot better than they'd have us believe.