Kenyan coach Roger Harper says critics would be wrong to write Bermuda off just four months away from the start of the World Cup.

The former West Indies offspinner, brother of Mark Harper who coached Bermuda prior to the arrival of Gus Logie, believes the Island team are facing similar struggles to those of several other ICC Associate member countries as they attempt to take their game to the next level.

Having watched his side, led by inspirational skipper Steve Tikolo, complete a comprehensive three-victory sweep of the one-day series in Mombasa on Tuesday, Harper said that despite those losses Bermuda would emerge a better team.

“They’re Associate members and therefore not playing much of the longer version of the game . . . that’s where I think countries like Bermuda come unstuck, especially from a batting perspective . . . being able to spend longer periods at the crease.

“But there’s no doubt that Bermuda have got a lot of talented players. It’s now just a matter of them playing more cricket and applying themselves to specific situations which they find themselves in during the game. It’s all a matter of experience.

“From what I’ve seen here Kenya, I’m sure they’re going to improve, I’m sure this series will stand them in good stead when they get to South Africa and play Holland and Canada. I actually expect them to perform fairly well.”

Harper, meanwhile, finds himself under pressure, having taken the job of national coach earlier this year following months of internal wrangling within Kenya Cricket.

It was only just over three years ago that Kenya pulled off one of the biggest upsets in cricket history by reaching the semi-finals of the World Cup, where they lost to India.

But almost immediately the sport went into free fall amid allegations of corruption. Compounding the turmoil was a five-year ban imposed on all-rounder Maurice Odumbe — in many people’s opinion the best player ever to emerge from East Africa — following a match-fixing scandal.

Harper’s presence has clearly helped steady the ship, but he’s under no illusions about the task at hand.

“I think everyone would dearly love this team to achieve exactly what it did in the last World Cup, but you have to be realistic,” he shrugs.

“My objective is for the team to play as well as it is capable of playing. And you know we have to play against teams like England and New Zealand, very strong Full Member countries. But if we play as well as we can, we have a good chance.

“Prior to that we have the World Cricket League right here in Kenya in January (in which Bermuda will also compete) and I think that is just as important for Kenya as the World Cup, if not more important.

“We want to make sure that we’re peaking at that time and playing our best cricket.”

And the whitewash inflicted on Bermuda, said Harper, was a sign that his squad were moving in the right direction.

“Before Bermuda we lost a series 3-0 to Bangladesh and we also lost to the Australia Academy. But we went to Uganda and won all of our games in a very convincing fashion.

“What we have to remember is that while we’re very capable of competing with teams like Bangladesh, they’re playing a lot of international one-day and Test cricket.

“Kenya hasn’t had that opportunity over the last few years to play regular international cricket so we’re now getting back into it, so yes this was a very important series for us competing against a team like Bermuda.

“It was a matter us executing, and I think we did just that throughout these three games. We played well.”