Clarence Parfitt, one of the finest cricketers Bermuda has ever produced, lauded the Island’s five-wicket win over his adopted homeland Scotland yesterday.

The Scots, who made four changes to the team that defeated the Kenya by 77 runs a day earlier, suffered their first loss at the ICC World Cricket League tournament against Bermuda.

And Parfitt was quick to pay tribute to the Island’s triumphant cricketers.

“From the looks of things Bermuda played very well and so you can’t really take anything from them,” he said.

“Irving (Romaine) and Lionel (Cann) batted really well. I think Bermuda should gain something from this match and I am very glad for them.”

The former St.George’s Cup Match and Arbroath CC stalwart also heaped praise upon Scotland for qualifying for September’s inaugural Twenty/20 World Cup in South Africa and also reaching tomorrow’s World Cricket League final with Kenya in Nairobi.

The Scots qualified for the Twenty/20 World Cup after handing Kenya a 77-run loss in their penultimate group match on Sunday.

“They achieved exactly what they wanted to achieve, and that was to qualify for the Twenty/20 World Cup. And hopefully this latest achievement will help to keep pushing us forward,” Parfitt said.

“Qualification to the Twenty/20 World Cup has been the aim now for over a year. And so the guys have really trained well and pushed hard to achieve their goal.”

Scotland travelled to the African continent well in advance of the start of the the World Cricket League tournament to acclimatise to the hotter playing conditions — a decision which Parfitt reckons ultimately “paid off in the end”.

“The guys got acclimatised to the conditions early,” he added.

“But the commitment has always been there because they want to reach the top. These guys are all very close and have been working together for the past two years.”

In 2004 Scotland won the inaugural ICC Intercontinental Cup tournament and were crowned ICC Trophy champions in Ireland in 2005.