Bermuda skipper David Hemp believes the squad's time at the High Performance Centre in South Africa could be the most important week of the year for the Island's cricketers.

The squad will travel to Pretoria for an intensive six-day training session before the Intercontinental Shield clash with Namibia, and will give Hemp the chance to meet several players for the first time.

Hemp, who has been keeping in contact with the selectors via e-mail, only found out the final 14-man squad when he spoke to The Royal Gazette yesterday, and has never played with two of his new team-mates.

"I can't comment on (Shannon) Rayner, because I haven't seen him play," said Hemp. "I haven't played with Jim (West) either, but I've seen him play in a club game. Of the rest Justin Pitcher had a good year last year, and Ryan Steede, I've been on tour with him before.

"In terms of the squad there are no real surprises, it's nice to see that the selectors have backed people who have shown commitment to Bermuda cricket, which is what it is all about at the end of the day.

"Those two (Steede and West) in particular have been rewarded for working hard, and that's great, it's what you want to encourage in Bermuda cricket."

If all goes to plan the time in South Africa will also allow the Bermuda captain to meet new coach David Moore, and help the pair understand each other's approach to the game.

"I think it's important because it's a week where we can get some practice on grass, and hopefully the weather is kind to us, and (we can) spend some time thinking about cricket, which is tough to do at home where there are other distractions," he said.

"It doesn't mean that if we have a bad week we aren't going to win games, and similarly if things go really well during the week we are going to hammer Namibia. But, it gives you a good idea of where you are, and more importantly gives everyone a chance to get their house in order in that period of time before we get across to Namibia and the real competition starts.

"Hopefully he'll (Moore) be able to get out there to us, obviously from his own perspective it will be great if he can take charge of the tour, get to know people, and start to build his culture, get his philosophies coming through as soon as possible.

"From my own point of view the training camp will be the ideal opportunity to do it, we'll have a little bit more time where we haven't got to rush back off to families. Where we can sit down and actually have conversations over lunch, dinner, after practice, just to see where we are both coming from, and for players to get to know him as well."

Being based in the UK has left Hemp at a slight disadvantage in terms of overseeing team selection, but he has every faith that Arnold and Andre Manders, who have been coaching the team over the winter, are getting the right message across.

"I think in a way some parts are quite tough," said Hemp, "obviously I have been in e-mail contact in terms of being kept up to date on who's been attending practice, and my thoughts on a couple of things. Obviously if you're on the ground and have face-to-face contact, that's a more ideal situation.

"But at the end of the day I think we pretty much know whose names would be in the mix for selection, and there were just one or two grey areas that we weren't sure about. And again, from my perspective, as long as the coaches there are pushing the players hard, and make sure they start thinking about the tour, not just when they jump on the plane, but thinking now about their roles, their responsibilities, and what they are looking to achieve, that's what matters.

"From my point of view I would expect that to be happening anyway, but it's nice to know that there are people trying to instill that."

Bermuda have practised before at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria, prior to the 2007 World Cup, and were defeated there by Holland in a four-day game.