Bermuda Lawn Tennis Association (BLTA) has already drawn up a short-list of players they plan to run the rule over ahead of selecting their team for next year's Davis Cup.

It is understood around a dozen of the Island's top players have been earmarked as potential candidates to represent Bermuda at the annual showpiece, which will be held in Honduras in July.

Usual suspects such as James Collieson, Jenson Bascome, Gavin Manders, David Thomas and Romar Douglas are all in the mix for the four positions, while rising star Jordan Talbot is another sure to force his way into the reckoning.

Bermuda will compete against the likes of Trinidad and Tobago, El Salvador and Barbados in the Davis Cup Americas Division Four, with the top two finishers in the group gaining promotion. In 1997 Bermuda clinched Davis Cup divisional honours on home soil and repeated the trick three years later in Honduras.

BLTA president David Lambert stressed only those players who had competed in at least one BLTA-sanctioned event would be considered for Davis Cup selection.

"There are a number of players who have represented Bermuda at the Davis Cup in the past and once again I expect they will be pushing for a place. But there are also other young guys like Jordan Talbot who has a very good chance of forcing his way into the team.

"But I must stress that players who wish to represent Bermuda in overseas tournaments like the Davis Cup must return to the Island for BTLA-ranked events. We are quietly confident of a successful Davis Cup campaign and will be striving for promotion from our group.

"There are plenty of talented Bermudian players who, if striking the ball like we know they can, will give us every chance of success. We will assessing those players over the comning year."

The BLTA plans to select the team six weeks prior to the tournament, while a manager/coach will be named early in the New Year.

On Saturday the BLTA will be staging a practice session for players at the W.E.R Joell Tennis Stadium, followed by a meeting mapping out their 2008 schedule. It will run between 2 p.m and 4 p.m. Another session and meeting will take place on December 27 between 5 p.m and 7 p.m.

"Our preparations for 2008 start this Saturday," added Lambert. "We will be providing information and details about all of our upcoming events and players will be able to declare their interest in tournaments such as the Davis Cup. We will be corresponding with all our top players off-Island who are unable to attend."

The first team to leave the Island next year will be the Junior Davis Cup and Fed Cup who travel to Honduras in April, while Bermuda will also send a team for the 2008 Fed Cup in Bolivia later that month.