MONDAY'S win over Canada in the Intercontinental Cup in Toronto came exactly three years to the day that Bermuda qualified for the World Cricket Cup.

And national coach Gus Logie is cautiously optimistic that the team's triumph this week, combined with another good performance against Scotland this weekend, will propel local cricket forward after three years of highs and lows at the international level.

"I wouldn't want to start talk of turning corners or anything like that, but what I want to talk about is this particular squad that we have," said Logie on the eve of Bermuda's match with the Scots, the country's first Intercontinental home match since playing the United States in 2004.

"This particular squad demonstrated all the attributes that we have been asking . . . cajoling . . . begging for, and it is not just for the squad but we want to see it spread throughout the length and breath of the country ¿ the club level right through to the youth level. We must be singing from the same hymn book because anybody coming into the team, we want them to have the same approaches and attitudes."

Logie has endured some frustrating times since taking the post of national coach prior to the 2005 World Cup qualifying in Ireland. The highlight was no doubt the team's success in reaching the World Cup in the West Indies for the first time. But since then teams have changed often, as squad upon squad have left the country without key players because of unavailability or lack of commitment to the programme.

Three years is proving to be a long time in cricket as the Bermuda team has gone through a major tranformation with only four members from the 2005 ICC Trophy ¿ Irving Romaine, now the captain, Dwayne Leverock, Ryan Steede and the recalled Chris Foggo ¿ on the Canada trip. Foggo has been largely overlooked for national selection since the 2005 trip to Ireland.

A fifth player from the World Cup qualifying squad, OJ Pitcher, returned to the line-up for the Scotland game yesterday after being sidelined with a groin injury that will be put to the test over the next three days. He replaced Ryan Steede as the only change from last weekend's match in Canada. Otherwise the squad is full of exciting, but still relatively raw, youngsters in their 20s. Youngsters like vice captain Rodney Trott, Oronde Bascome, Jekon Edness and Stefan Kelly who are all playing against the Scots while bowlers Kyle Hodsoll, McLaren Smith and Taumari Tucker remain in the reckoning.

While Logie stuck largely to the same squad from the last match, he stressed that the door is open for others to forge their way through.

"We have invited a few other guys to join the squad over the last few days because they were a part of the process before, but because of injury they were out," explained Logie.

"OJ Pitcher is back and we have talked to people like Kevin Hurdle, who has to work, and even Chris Douglas, a youngster we are looking at. We know he has some issues but we are willing to help him through those issues. Being a part of the process will certainly help."

Logie is hoping the recent success will breed even more success and develop an environment where other youngsters are eager to follow a path into the national set-up.

"But I also want them to understand that in order to win you have to lose," Logie warned.

"It's a process that you have to go through and it builds tougher individuals. What we've seen is guys who have stuck with it and worked through the hard times and now they are enjoying some good times. We want that to continue."

With players like Lionel Cann, Janeiro Tucker and Malachi Jones unavailable, some youngsters found themselves being pushed to the fore on the trip to Canada.

Logie was pleased with the way they responded, winning the one-day series 2-1 and then ending the tour with a hard-fought victory in the four-day match as captain Romaine and Leverock led from the front with the bat and ball.

"They are leaders in the team, there's no two ways about it and are leading by example," Logie said of the team's senior players. "We impress upon them that whatever they do the youngsters will feed off that, so they need to do and say positive things.

"We've been through some highs and some very, very low lows and at time there didn't seem to be any light at the end of the tunnel, but we continued to believe, even behind the scenes where a lot of work had been put in," said Logie. "This is just a result of it."

The former West Indies Test player said: "Certainly the cricket board recognises that the future is obviously the young people and we have certainly been trying to prepare them for it. It is good to see all the under 19 youngsters included in the set-up beginning to show the maturity that we know they have and that certainly bodes well for the future."

Logie added: "At the end of the day I want to leave here knowing that there is a strong base, and once there is that strong base that's what it is about. Qualifying for tournaments will be the icing on the cake."

Certainly there is no time for the players to lose momentum on the international stage as another overseas trip is coming up at the end of the month.

"As soon as we finish here we will have a two-week preparation for the qualifying series of the 20/20 World Cup in Belfast, Ireland at the end of this month, so the guys will be looking forward to that as well. It is another opportunity to be on the world stage and I'm certain they'll all grab it with both hands."