Bermuda got off to an inauspicious start at the International Youth Tournament in Denmark when they were handed an eight-wicket thrashing by Ireland during the opening day of competition.

It was not a good performance by the local side as their batting failed miserably on a slow but true wicket against a team not expected to mount a significant challenge and not containing a legitimate strike bowler.

A lack of concentration showed as many of the early order batsmen threw away their wickets through careless strokeplay.

Opener Ryan Steede was one such culprit as after stroking a four off one delivery he attempted a similar stroke off a better-pitched ball and skied out for a personal contribution of five.

Daniel Morgan (11) was next to go when he too went into a big hitting mode and was similarly induced into giving a chance.

Numbers three and four Dennis Kelly (six) and Jason Simons (nought) lingered around only briefly before they too were sent packing back to the pavilion.

Aside from Morgan only skipper Janeiro Tucker (33) was able to show the composure required to build an innings. He and cousin Kwame Tucker (two) gave a glimmer of hope, engaging in a stand of 27 for the fifth wicket. Sadly, however, their dismissals signalled another collapse and in the end 75 runs in 22.5 overs was all the Bermudians could muster.

Three players failed to score and a wagging tail-end was not in order with the scoreboard reading Steval Arorash (nought), Kevin Hurdle (one), Dean Stevens (nought), Garry Williams (five) and Gregory Talbot (nought not out).

Top wicket-taker for Ireland was R.Eagleson with four for 10 from 5.4 overs.

He was assisted by G.O'Meara, who pocketed two wickets for 19, while M.Patterson and J.Cunningham claimed one for 27 and one for 14 respectively.

Conversely the Irish found the rolled, matted wicket much to their liking and were not bothered by brisk game-time temperatures hovering around 51 degrees (Fahrenheit).

The opening pair of R.Wiseman (14 not out) and A.Joyce (22) batted their way to 45 before the latter became a victim of Janeiro Tucker's right-arm, medium-pacers.

Next man P.Davy had a short stay at the crease and was run out without scoring, but number four P.Gillespie rectified things as he scorched an unbeaten 20 to see his country to victory.

Janeiro Tucker's wicket came at a cost of 14 runs from seven overs as he and Kevin Hurdle, whose four overs yielded just seven runs, proved the most economical of the Bermuda bowlers.

Remaining figures had Steval Arorash conceding 14 runs from 2.5 overs, Dean Stevens none for 17 from five overs and Garry Williams none for 22 from four.

"We played badly and never applied ourselves when asked to bat after losing the toss,'' said coach Gladstone Brown. "Overall the batting was just pathetic.

"Looking at their bowlers I thought we were worth around 180 to 200 runs.

They didn't have anybody really devastating and we were just lacking in our shot selection.'' A dramatic improvement will be required today as they take on Zimbabwe, one of the pre-tournament favourites, but a side that also lost their initial match by eight wickets to Holland.

Zimbabwe scored 142 only to have their opponents cross the score after losing two wickets.

"It's going to be very difficult,'' said Brown of the impending task. "The level of competition here is something they (Bermuda) haven't seen before ...

these teams are serious about cricket and are really doing the business here.

"(To win) it calls for a lot of hard work and dedication.

"Anything can happen on the day and I want to get them in the right frame of mind and have them go out and really dig in.'' At least one change is expected with the possibility of all-rounder Sam Robinson coming in to replace Talbot.

The day's remaining match saw England humble the host nation by 93 runs. The British knocked up 201 and then dismissed their challengers for 108.

For parents expecting to hear from team members Brown explained that they were experiencing problems dialling out.