MCC 250-7 Bermuda 202-7 Bermuda's shortcomings continued to be exposed by the touring MCC who chalked up their fifth straight victory at Lord's on Saturday.

And on this occasion the national squad hardly helped themselves, amazingly turning up one player short and being forced to call on young St. David's batsman Landro Minors to make up the numbers.

Ricky Hill reportedly fell ill while Richard Basden, for reasons not known, was not available.

This time it was the local squad's bowling which let them down as the visitors won by 48 runs, spearheaded by opener Philo Wallace's knock of 49 and the seam bowling of David Goodson who snatched three for 27 off eight overs.

On a day when the east end was spared much of the rain that swept across the rest of the Island, the MCC bats never allowed Bermuda's bowlers to capitalise on the cool, damp conditions.

Problems soon mounted for Bermuda as MCC openers Wallace and Paul Atkins got the tourists off to a flying start, putting on 84 in quick time with the former West Indies Test bat lashing four sixes and four fours.

He was eventually caught by Herbie Bascome off the bowling of spinner Dwayne Leverock who was by far the best of the Bermuda's bowlers, finishing with three for 26 off 10 overs with two maidens. Two balls after getting rid of the dangerous Wallace, Leverock had Bazid Khan caught by Bascome for two.

With only the burly allrounder causing the batsmen any concern, MCC moved swiftly to a formidable total with Robin Jones and Deon Kruis turning in the next highest partnership, adding an unbroken stand of 58 for the eighth wicket. Jones was undefeated on 28 and Kruis not out on 29 at the completion of 50 overs.

Other chief scorers for MCC were opener Atkins with 45, including six fours and a six, Paul Strang with 40, Ben Oliver 19 and Steve Marsh 18.

Two local bowlers counted on to lead the brunt of the attack at the upcoming ICC Trophy in Toronto, medium pacer Herbie Bascome and spinner Hasan Durham, proved to be costly -- the former conceding 29 runs off his first three overs and finishing with one for 64 off 10 overs.

Durham was also heavily hit and restricted to bowling just five overs, taking one for 49. Dennis Pilgrim had none for 33 off 10 overs, Janeiro Tucker one for 37 off 10 overs and O.J.Pitcher one for 36 off five overs.

Coach Winston Reid, however, commended the bowlers for restricting a powerful batting side to 250, claiming they showed character.

"I think it was a great improvement for our bowlers to restrict them to 250, I can't be too critical, not when they (MCC) are a high quality professional team,'' said Reid.

Although never looking like threatening the target of 251, Bermuda's batting also showed some character with opener Albert Steede stroking a fine 48 which included eight fours.

After the other opener Kwame Tucker (seven) left with the score 29 for one, Steede and Landro Minors (17) added 39 for the second wicket to take the total to 68 and give fans some hope of a close match.

But Minors was masterfully caught by Kruis off Strang and later when Steede was caught in the gully by Jones off Khan, Bermuda's hopes began to fade.

Clay Smith (13) and skipper Charlie Marshall (20) added 39 for the fourth wicket, Marshall the aggressor while Smith settled in slowly. But at 122, Marshall was bowled by Goodson and when Smith was caught by Wallace off the same bowler in the covers at 129 for four all hopes had vanished.

O.J. Pitcher (10) fell to a brilliant catch at midwicket by Steve Marsh diving to his left.

Some late sixes by Janeiro Tucker (32) and Herbie Bascome (20 not out) saw Bermuda reach the double century mark, but that was merely a consolation.

Goodson returned three for 27 off eight overs while Kruis had two for 17 off nine overs.