There won?t be a spare seat on offer tonight at the National Sports Centre when Bermuda take on England in the semi-finals of the 20-20 World Cricket Classic.

Fresh from their victory over a lacklustre West Indies side on Sunday, Irving Romaine?s team should be pushed far harder by a younger and more energetic England side boasting an impressive array of former international seamers.

Yesterday, coach Gus Logie said the players were buzzing with confidence ahead of what is being billed as the clash of the tournament so far, while stressing the importance of playing in front of large, boisterous crowds ahead of the World Cup ? no matter what the format of the match.

?We do not often get the opportunity to play at home, so the players are really looking forward to the challenge,? he said.

?This is what it is all about and what we are working towards ? being able to perform in front of large crowds and not to be intimidated by the atmosphere or the occasion.

?This is the real thing and the more events like this that the players can play in, the better, no matter whether its 20 overs or anything else.

?I?m sure there will be some hearts pounding out there and there will be some nerves flying around, but hopefully the guys will come through all that and perform to the level they are capable of.

?It was good to see the players come to the party on Sunday and show such responsibility. Obviously the way we are preparing at the moment goes well beyond the 20-20. We have been focusing on different facets of the game that we want to put together ? plans we are trying to act out ? and it was good to see some of those things happening against the West Indies.?

One of the more impressive areas of Bermuda?s victory on the weekend was the performance of the batsman, as the hosts racked up a commanding 174 for five off their 20 overs, with allrounder Kwame Tucker, Lionel Cann, Daniel Morgan and Janiero Tucker to the fore.

But what was particularly pleasing for Logie was the style in which the runs were scored.

Gone were the ugly, cross-bat smears that might have characterised Bermuda?s batting in a 20-over game a few years ago.

Instead, most of the batsman looked to play as straight as they possibly could, peppering the vacant areas over the bowlers? head or over extra cover and straight midwicket with a collection of powerful drives.

?That is something we have been talking about for some time and I think now it is starting to bear fruit,? said Logie.

?One of the things you can get away with in Bermuda on small grounds is looking to hit straight balls through midwicket or square leg ? but the higher the level you play and the bigger the grounds get, you have to start hitting the ball in different areas if you are going to be successful.

?We have spent a lot of time working with the batsman and encouraging them to hit down the ground, and I think you saw quite a few examples of that on Sunday. Even in 20-over cricket there is plenty of room for proper shots.

?I hope this continues against England and there won?t just be slogging from the beginning of the 20 overs because that is when we might get into trouble.?

On the bowling front, Logie conceded there was not a large margin for error in 20-over cricket for seamers or spinners alike, suggesting that the overriding emphasis will always be on damage-limitation rather than wicket-taking.

?It?s not an easy job for bowlers but we will stick to our strengths and see how things go from there,? he said.

?It would be unrealistic to expect some of our guys to run up and try and bowl yorker after yorker when they are not used to it or haven?t practised bowling them regularly.

?So we?re going to stick to our game plans of bowling just short of a good length and trying to get our fields right ? if we do that well I think we?ll have a chance.

?We will talk more with the guys about England in the run-up to the game and how we?re going to counteract their strengths and it will then be a matter of going out and doing the business.?

Meanwhile, having witnessed the party on Sunday following Bermuda?s victory, former Lancashire heavyweight Ian Austin is expecting another day of massive partisan support when his side take on the local heroes.

?It?s going to be great,? said the taker of more than 250 first-class wickets who retired in 2001.

?There was a tremendous atmosphere the other day and we expect the same sort of thing again. It will be good, everyone likes to play in front of a big crowd even if they are all rooting for the other team!

?It should be a good game. The Bermuda boys look pretty handy and will be working hard in the field.

?This might be a holiday for some of us but it is a holiday where we are playing cricket ? and playing cricket to win.

?You don?t play for your county and country as many times as some of our lads and then suddenly lose that competitive edge. We have some good players and we will be going for it.?