Jim West is back in the Bermuda set-up after a self-imposed exile and is raring to get stuck into the task at hand.

The Bailey's Bay bowler is back at a happy hunting ground after spending three months at the High Performance Centre in 2005, where he enjoyed some successful spells on the hard South African wickets.

"It's good to be back, I'm happy to be back in the team," he said. "The selectors called me up last season because I was having a good year, and asked me to come and train with the national squad and see what happened.

"I've been here (Pretoria), four or five years ago, for three months, so I know a lot about the place and conditions. I played well while I was here and I suppose that had something to do with getting picked too."

While injuries and outside influences have curtailed West's Bermuda career, the bowler is back to almost full fitness and anxious to make up for lost time.

"I was struggling with injuries, I'm still struggling with a couple of problems, but hopefully I can work through them and hopefully this week I'll get stronger and be ready for the next match.

"I get leg and shoulder injuries some of the time, I'm getting old, but I'm pretty much back in good shape and ready to play."

A good season for Bailey's Bay last year helped convince West that it might be worth giving the national team another chance. The prospect of playing on hard, fast, bouncy wickets didn't hurt either.

"When I was out (of the national team), I was still playing cricket, but I was busy with my other life," added West. "I mean cricket is everything but there is more to life, I fish for a living, I was working, and there was a lot of things going on in my life.

"I took a little time off (from the national team) but I continued playing for Bay and had a good couple of seasons and I thought if I was still playing good cricket I might as well try for the national team again."

Meanwhile, the main task for Bermuda head coach Arnold Manders yesterday was keeping his players awake.

After a 12-hour overnight flight, the Bermuda squad finally arrived at their Pretoria base at 9 a.m., but any thoughts of catching up on sleep were quickly dispelled.

While the players walked around with heavy eyelids and a desperate desire to sleep, a 30-minute catnap was all they were allowed before their day began.

A team meeting was followed by a light jogging session around the University of Pretoria cricket pitch, some pool work, and finished off with an hour's fielding practice.

The reason for what might seem like a slightly draconian approach was simple – re-setting the players' body clocks.

"The idea is just to keep the guys awake," said Manders yesterday. "Tomorrow we'll hit it hard, but for now it's about gently getting them used to the conditions and stopping them from going to sleep too early.

"Some of them want to do some throw downs in the nets as well, so they can do that, and then they're free.

"But we need to get their body clocks right for the tour, so they can't be sleeping during the day, and then awake all night."