Bermuda's victorious Masters cricket team returned home yesterday proudly showing off the fruits of their labour in Antigua.

The squad, comprised of some of the finest cricketers the Island has ever produced, won the second annual Antigua Independence Cricket Festival 20/20 Tournament in the Caribbean by beating Canada Masters by four-runs in a nail-biting final last Saturday.

Leading the celebrations yesterday upon the team's arrival at the airport was manager Warrington (Soup) Zuill, who unfortunately missed Bermuda's final two matches against Caribbean Sports Club and Canada Masters after falling ill.

"When we put this team together the intention of the players was to go to Antigua, participate and win the trophy. That was stated during the first meeting we had," Zuill told .

In their debut at the Antiguan cricket spectacle, celebrating the Caribbean lsland's independence, Bermuda went undefeated throughout the rain-affected tournament ? shortened due to persistent inclement weather.

"The guys knew what they had to, and they all played as a team. You didn't have to tell any of the players where to field or anything like that because they knew exactly what they had to do," Zuill continued.

"And one of the biggest statements that was presented to us by some of the renowned cricketers in Antigua was 'you should have sent this team down to play in the Standford 20/20 Tournament . . . not the other one (national team) you sent down'.

"That was stated to us by some of the biggest cricketers in Antigua who were quite pleased with the way we played. And they couldn't believe that our players were either in their mid-40s or almost 60 years old the way they performed on the field.

"They carried themselves as senior cricket ambassadors for Bermuda and they all did the Island proud."

Bermuda's Masters have now received invites to participate in future Masters tournaments in the UK, Caribbean and South America.

"We have been invited to play in other tournaments and we are now looking forward to those possibilities because you are never too old to play when you have the game in your heart and you enjoy playing the game," added Zuill, who also hopes local sponsors will come on board to help offset travelling expenses for future tours.

All team members who competed in Antigua last week met the cost of the trip out of their own pockets, with only overseas-based telephone providers Digicel of Antigua willing to come on board as sponsors.

Bermuda Cricket Board (BCB), local cricket's governing body, sanctioned the tour and kitted all members with free BCB tee-shirts.

However, no Board member was on hand to greet the team at the airport on their arrival yesterday morning.

"Right now we are trying to get more sponsors to help carry us through. Digicel of Antigua sponsored us and they were also sponsors of the tournament," Zuill said.

"They (Digicel) gave us cricket kits, and we appreciate that. But maybe next year local Digicel and some of the others can come on board to give us a hand."

As for his health, Zuill commented: "I feel much better now that I'm home."

Masters skipper Lionel Thomas attributed his team's success to "team spirit".

"Obviously we are all a bit older, but once the competition started it got very competitive," he said.

"I think we had better team spirit then the other guys; we knew one another better than our rivals and all in all it was a really good team effort.

"It was very wet there, which was a bit unusual. But the boys adapted very well."

With Canada requiring six runs off the final over for victory, Bermuda all rounder Clevie Wade snared two crucial wickets, one of them with the final ball of the match, to seal the Island's historic win.

"Basically it was all about bowling at the stumps and not giving the batsmen any room to swing their arms," Wade said. "I had a slight hamstring pull but with my experience I said 'if they miss I hit'. And they went for the big hit and missed and I hit the stumps."

Leg spinner James Swan, who produced the tournament's best bowling figures of four for 14, also delivered the goods with the ball on tour.

"You just had to bowl very strict and not allow the ball to move about too much through the air because the guys would hit you," he said.

"It was an interesting way to bowl and the wickets were a little different, but we managed to overcome them and everybody did their very best."

Batsman and tournament MVP Andre (Doc) Manders also attributed the team's overall success to teamwork.

"The guys put a lot of effort into team unity," he said. "We were always together wherever we went. We were up early mornings either running or swimming, and that basically kept us in shape.

"And everybody really dug in and overall it was a good tournament."