Bermuda play their first competitive international game under new head coach David Moore today when they face Namibia in a Twenty/20 game at the Wanderers cricket ground.

Moore is leaving his team selection until the last minute, following several days of rain in the Namibian capital, Windhoek.

That final selection will give some indication as to the team he intends to play in the four-day Intercontinental Shield clash that starts on Saturday.

With Moore only able to stay for the first day of that encounter before he returns home to wrap up his affairs, today's game, which is due to start at 9.30 a.m. Bermuda time, and Saturday, will give the Australian a first glimpse of how his new charges fare in a pressure situation.

So far Moore has only seen how the 14-man squad have trained and played in the build-up at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria.

But Bermuda landed in Namibia yesterday, and now the real work begins.

"It (the week in South Africa) has been very educational for me, very informative," said Moore. "I've got to know the players initially, there's a long way to go of course.

"But, from what I can gather, the majority of these guys are very committed to playing cricket for Bermuda, and I believe they are going to put in the hard work. I expect that they will.

"They (the players) have committed verbally to that, and they seem to be a very close knit group of guys as well, which is really encouraging and it makes it easier to mould a team around that."

While it is difficult to judge a player on a single Twenty/20 encounter, given the crash, bang, wallop nature of the format, Moore believes he learns something any time he sees a player perform.

"Every game is going to be educational early on, that's for sure, but probably I'm really looking forward to how they go under pressure," he said. "I thought the practice games were good but obviously this is an international, and it will be interesting to see how they go.

"It's a Twenty/20, and obviously the big money, for us, is on the four-day games, but any competitive game for me is one you are out there to win 100 percent.

"I think Twenty/20 is a legitimate part of cricket now and we need to take that very seriously. In the past people have taken it as a bit hit and giggles, because there wasn't that much riding on it.

"But I think that every international that Bermuda plays we have to take seriously. It is difficult to gauge the shorter form against the longer form, but there will be indicators there.

"The fielding, in particular, bowling under pressure, batting under pressure, decision making, that's the sort of stuff that I'll be looking at to see how they go."

Everything Moore does is intended to test the players, and while some coaches prefer to have a staff handle the day to day aspects of the job, the former West Indies coach is all for getting his hands dirty.

"I really love coaching, and doing the hands on stuff, and I think with the position in Bermuda, and from where I came from before the West Indies, there's just not that luxury of having a budget to delegate to all those different people," said Moore.

"From my point of view, not only am I looking forward to this job because I'm allowed to be not only the national coach of the senior players, but I've got a role at all levels of cricket, developing structures and it's going to be an exciting job.

"I really love being hands on and helping players to become better cricketers."

So far Moore has only met a small fraction of the cricketers in Bermuda and over the coming summer he intends to get out and watch enough club cricket to see what the Island has to offer.

And if he thinks that any player should be added to the squad he will hand them their chance, but only if they are prepared to work for it.

In the past the team has been made up of the best players, and Moore hopes that will continue but he will have no hesitation in picking a less talented side if those are the 11 players that do the work.

"I think, my bottom line is that there are standards set, and expectations on the players," he said. " And as I have said before, all I'm looking for is 11 or 12 players for every game who are fully committed to Bermuda, and who have made that a priority in their life.

"It is an honour to play for Bermuda and if people don't want to undertake that honour, then they don't have to. But when you're playing, you have to be fully committed to the job at hand, which is winning cricket games.

"I hope that the 11 or 12 most committed players are the most talented players but sometimes it doesn't happen because of outside commitments, but we'll go with the players that want to play for Bermuda."

¦ Bermuda Cricket Board (BCB) will be hosting Under-13 national team trials and a skills day on April 24 at the National Sports Centre North Field, from 1 p.m. to 3.30 p.m.