Arnold Manders believes his side will have to 'play out of their minds' if they are to have any chance of beating Namibia in the one-day games today and tomorrow.

The Bermuda coach is expecting two tough matches against a team that came third in the Zimbabwe domestic Twenty/20 competition and have spent the summer playing against South Africa's top club teams.

However, for Manders, these next two games are not just about winning and losing, but about preparing for the Americas tournament in Bermuda in May, and in the long-term, the next World Cup qualifiers in two years' time.

"One dayers are going to be tough, they're going to come at us hard," said Manders.

"Results do count, because if we lose too much . . . I'm not expecting us to beat Namibia, we'll have to play out of our minds.

"They've already been through a season and we're just starting, but if we get aggressive, and Hempy, Stephen (Outerbridge) and Irving (Romaine) get off, then we could have a chance."

The term 'building a team' is usually the last refuge for a coach that knows his side are going to struggle. Manders makes no bones about his Bermuda's chances over the next two days, but in a world that demands immediate results, it is the long-term goals the coach prefers to concentrate on.

"These next two games, it's all about looking towards the Americas, so it's about getting them to bowl in the right areas, consistently anyway," he said.

"They looked pretty good in the nets but you never know what's going to happen in a a game situation, and that (change) isn't going to happen overnight.

"We'll go with our best team, give it a good push and see what we do. Hopefully we'll see some improvement, it's about building."

For Manders, and new coach David Moore, the challenge isn't just about improving the players technically, it's also about changing a mindset that has seeped into Bermuda cricket in recent years – a lazy approach to playing, to training, to cricket generally, from the clubs right through to the national side.

"It's tough, but it's not time for dying yet," said Manders, "this group, I can see them improve, but it's hard, because the old regime, everything was lackadaisical, and they weren't made to do stuff. And this is something different and the new coach (Moore) is like a frigging . . .

"It's about being more professional, training like it's a game, that's what I've been trying to instill in them for the last couple of months. They've made progress, but they're not really there yet, that's why, when they get into a game situation, and they need to put balls into certain areas, or play carefully, they can't do it.

"They get into the net, and all they want to do is hit the ball all over the place, and all the bowlers do is run in without a purpose. And that's Bermuda cricket and we need to get away from that, if we are going to go to the next level."

The players who were drafted into the squad in January have already been subjected to the new regime, at least Manders' version of it, and some players have already dropped out because they couldn't live with the higher standards demanded of them.

As for the players on this tour they are learning on the job, and it's taking time for some of the new ways to sink in.

"It's something new for them, and they need to tie into it, and we can bring a couple of new guys in, but they have to tie into what we're doing and that's going to be the hardest thing.

"We've already had some players drop out because they said they're not ready for it and I'm not as hard as him (Moore). I thought I was.

"This is a good group and I have been impressed with them, there could be some additions added into it, but they have to tie into it and if they don't they're out, and it doesn't make a difference who it is. It could be Hemp, it could be Outerbridge."

"The danger for the Bermuda management is what happens when they players get back to Island, and return to their clubs and their bad habits. The answer to that problem will be national squad training, three or four times a week.

"We're trying to teach them (the players) that what they learn here they have to take back to their clubs. But we're also going to have them training at least three times a week, maybe four, up until the Americas.

"Country has got to come before club right now."