Bermuda take on Sussex Second XI today at East Grinstead Cricket Club and assistant coach Clay Smith says he is well aware that the side will have to adapt quickly to the early season English conditions if they are not to be overwhelmed by their professional opponents.

For cricketers used to plying their trade in warmer climes, the cold weather and slow, seaming pitches that predominate in England during April and May make life on the field decidedly unpleasant and hazardous at times.

This fact was underlined during Bermuda?s training session yesterday morning at Horsham Cricket Club where batsmen in the nets found it difficult to counteract the prodigious movement obtained by the quicker bowlers off the green surfaces while three players ? Irving Romaine, Daniel Morgan and Kevin Hurdle ? sustained bruised hands as their frozen fingers reacted badly to catching practice.

As usual though, the mood in the camp was extremely positive ? a situation helped, Smith said, by the return of the young St. David?s duo OJ Pitcher and Delyone Borden after a hiatus of several months.

?OJ and Delyone coming back has given everyone a real lift,? he said. ?They?re so young, enthusiastic and talented that you cannot help being enthused by their involvement, plus there is obviously more competition for places now so the intensity level from the other players has lifted as well. It?s good to see.?

The Bermuda side for today?s game will not be unveiled until the very last minute, with Smith and fellow selectors Gus Logie and Janeiro Tucker delaying the final decision in order to take a good look at the unfamiliar East Grinstead pitch a couple of hours before the game begins.

Which Sussex players will take the field is also not known, though it is understood that at least 18 of Sussex?s 25-man squad will be at the ground in the morning ? a fact which dramatically increases the likelihood that some of the opposition will have first team experience under their belts.

Having watched with frustration in Trinidad as his senior fast bowlers were put to the sword on flatter, quicker tracks by Zimbabwe?s young batsmen in particular, Smith said that he was looking forward to the likes of Hurdle and Ryan Steede making the most of their time here.

?The conditions are obviously drastically different from the ones we experienced in Trinidad and though most of us came across them last summer before the ICC Trophy, they are still going to take a bit of getting used to,? he said.

?I guess if you look at things from a positive perspective, the seam bowlers in particular should enjoy themselves on this tour if they put the ball in the right areas. Just watching them today in the nets, you could see they were getting a lot more movement both off the pitch and in the air and hopefully they will be able to exploit this in the matches coming up.

?The key to bowling at this time of year in England is to keep the ball as full as possible ? to give the ball a chance to move.

?The length you have to bowl is different from Bermuda for instance and it is something we will be talking to the bowlers about over the course of this trip.

?It?s not easy for us to come over here at this time of year, particularly having just come back from the Caribbean. But there is no point in complaining ? it?s just a question of getting on with it and doing the best we can.?

With significant pressure on batsmen like Morgan and Treadwell Gibbons jr to score runs after a poor run in Trinidad, a tour of the UK in May is not exactly what the doctor ordered. The nature of the wickets makes it difficult to hit through the ball with any degree of certainty or conviction ? something Smith said had also been discussed at great length.

?Again it?s going to be hard because most of the pitches we?re likely to play on will be very different from what we?re used to or what we?ve played on recently,? he said.

?When it?s slow, you?ve got to play it as late as possible because if you don?t and you go at the ball, you get into problems if it doesn?t come on or there is any movement.

?You?ve got to play very straight and in the V when the wickets are slow as well because it?s very easy to get leading edges up in the air if you try and work the ball on the leg side.

?It will be important for us to be patient and to bat the entire 50 overs because if we do that we should have something in the region of 210-220, which should be a competitive total in the conditions.

?Overall though the guys are looking forward to the matches. Obviously they are all friendly games, but that does not make them any less important in terms of the process we are still going through and we will be looking to improve in all areas of our game.?