and for Bermuda it has come to this -- the fifth ICC Trophy Tournament.

When Albert Steede leads the national team into action against West Africa on Sunday he will become the island's youngest ever captain in this tournament.

And that match will mark the start of what is hoped to be an historic march towards qualification in the 1996 World Cup. In betting odds published yesterday, Bermuda were joint third favourites at 5-1 with Bangladesh.

Holland, losing finalists the past two tournaments to Zimbabwe who are now a Test-playing country, are 1-2 favourites with impressive hosts Kenya tabbed second at 5-2.

For the record, the ICC ranks Holland as the top seeds, followed by Bangladesh, Kenya and Bermuda. The Dutch have run into a few problems before the tournament has even started as at least four of their players are being investigated over qualification.

Bermuda Cricket Board of Control president Ed Bailey is the chairman of the Qualifications Committee. Already members of the United States face expulsion from the tournament while the United Arab Emirates are under suspicion due to the number of Pakistanis in their contingent.

None of this, however, has a bearing on Bermuda's immediate goal as they must win three of their four group D matches to improve on 1990's dismal performance in Holland.

Following the West Africa match tomorrow, Bermuda play Hong Kong on Tuesday, Fiji on February 19 and Denmark on February 21, in what could prove to be a critical match-up.

The aim right now is to avoid Holland and Kenya in the quarter-finals round robin. Barring upsets, the Dutch and Kenyans are huge favourites to qualify first from groups A and C respectively. The second-placed team from Bermuda's group are due to join them, putting more emphasis on winning the first round.

"We see what is ahead of us and have to put everything into trying to win this group,'' said Steede. "We have had a fews days of rest and everybody is just raring to get the tournament started.'' Bermuda went through a light work-out on Thursday and took yesterday off before a final net session today at Ruaraka. The five practice matches before the tournament resulted in three wins and two losses. The victories were over Young Kenya (two) and Uganda while the defeats were to Bangladesh and Young Kenya.

Centuries in the warm-ups went to Charlie Marshall, Albert Steede and Clay Smith who each contributed a half-century as well. It has been commonly accepted that on the good (batting) strips in Nairobi that a score in excess of 230 will be needed to win.

Bermuda conceded more than the total once -- 283 for five against Young Kenya -- but rebounded well against the same team in their final match.

The selection committee held off naming Sunday's team until today, no doubt the half-century that Jeff Richardson struck on Wednesday and injury concerns over Noel Gibbons and Clevie Wade contributing to the delay.

Both players feel ready to go on Sunday, so it could very well mean that Richardson could be left on the sidelines.

Competition opens today with matches in groups A and C. In group A, Holland face Malaysia and Papua New Guinea take on Gibraltar while in group C, Kenya meet Israel and Canada play Singapore.

JEFF RICHARDSON -- Hit form in the last warm-up match and could start tomorrow.