Bermuda's ICC Trophy cricketers will have had time to reflect yesterday on a Jekyll and Hyde performance over the past week that might have confounded their critics.

So impressive in victories over Denmark and Papua Guinea in a tournament which has already shown that on any given day any one of the 22 nations competing here can beat the other, Bermuda had chance to establish themselves as a cut above the rest when they met second seeds Ireland on Monday.

Instead, they capitulated against the Irish pace bowlers' fire and brimstone attack, suffered an eight-wicket hiding and were plunged back into the mix.

While the tournament is almost a third complete, such have been results so far any five teams from Bermuda's Division One, Group B, could still secure the three automatic spots in the second round - a fourth requiring what could be a tricky play-off, most likely against dark horses Namibia, to book their place.

It is that play-off, on Saturday, that Bermuda must attempt to avoid at all costs. And to do so, they almost certainly have to win their next match against the unpredictable Americans tomorrow and then their final group game against winless Hong Kong on Friday. If Bermuda's triumph over Denmark was something of an upset, then the USA's six-wicket defeat of Ireland was even more surprising.

Yet they followed up with lacklustre performances against both Papua New Guinea and Denmark, losing both and now requiring a win over Bermuda to stay alive.

Tomorrow's match at G.Ross Lord Park - a happy hunting ground so far for Bermuda - could in effect be do or die for both sides.

Such is Bermuda's run rate, a loss could drop them into fourth, even fifth place in the group, depending on other results.

Yesterday, with neither a match nor training scheduled, skipper Charlie Marshall and his players will have had plenty of time to contemplate their fate or fortune over the next few days. Marshall claimed after defeat to the Irish that their confidence hadn't been shaken, but admitted it was a case of "back to the drawing board".

"The guys are OK. They can come back," said the 40-year-old skipper. "(Against Ireland) it was important that we won the toss, and we didn't, but nobody's making excuses.

"We've now lost a match like everybody else. Sometimes it's good to win, but you can get too complacent, so this is a wake-up call. I'm not too worried. I know we can bounce back and fly the Bermuda flag high."

The captain conceded that even against bowlers whom he described as the best Bermuda have come up against so far, the team's top six batsmen did not apply themselves as well as they should.

"We knew there was a lot of moisture in the wicket, and we just didn't adapt to it. It was a lack of concentration and we just can't afford to make these type of mistakes in this tournament."

Like Marshall, coach Mark Harper was refusing to press the panic button yesterday but he was not buying the argument that losing the toss against Ireland was legitimate excuse for the team's woeful batting.

"I don't think it was all to do with the toss," said Harper. "The wicket was moist with a little extra bounce but I wouldn't say that batting first made a big difference.

"I think their bowlers bowled very well, but our concentration could have been a little better."

At team meetings yesterday and today, Harper said there would be plenty to discuss and analyse but he refused to divulge which weaknesses worried him most.

"There's lots of things that need attention, definitely. But I'm not going to be specific at this point. It's up to myself and Mr. (Winston) Reid to get them straight for the next game.

"The US match is obviously a key game now, but as we've said from the start, every game's important. You have to treat every game the same way. We can pick up ourselves from here and move on."

Should Bermuda get past USA they will be expected to defeat Hong Kong, who have so far been the whipping boys of Division One.

That would guarantee them a place in the second round next week in which the three top sides and the play-off winners from Group B take on the three leading teams and play-off winners from Group A in another round-robin league.

Points are carried through to the second round but only for victories in the first round over teams which also advance.

Thus, a win over Hong Kong, who have virtually no chance of progressing, is worthless in terms of second round points.

The two group play-off matches are scheduled this Saturday and the eventual eight qualifiers will play four round-robin matches on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday next week. At the end of those games, the two sides with the most points qualify for Sunday's ICC Trophy final and automatically earn a berth in the 2003 World Cup in South Africa. The third and fourth placed teams go into a play-off on Tuesday, July 17, to decide who earns the third World Cup ticket.