Janeiro Tucker can hardly wait to pad up and get back out in the middle.

The explosive Southampton Rangers and Somerset Cup Match skipper is about to captain Bermuda on a 13-day tour of Dubai where they will play five friendly matches against the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The 15-member national squad ? minus injured captain Clay Smith ? are scheduled to leave tomorrow.

Since returning from the ICC Intercontinental Cup tournament in Namibia last October, Tucker has sacrificed spare time to hit the irons in the gym whenever he isn't taking guard in the nets at the National Sports Centre or at Southampton Oval.

"I go to the gym on nights when the national team isn't training and I'm also trying to curb my eating habits so that I can drop any extra weight and tone my muscles," said Tucker who scored 40 on his Premier Division debut against Police in 1987 at the tender age of 14.

"It's now just a matter of preparing myself and helping the team in any way I can, especially the younger players in the squad. This is a younger team and so it's important that I score runs on this tour and keep the team organised" ? something the 30-year-old allrounder, due to tie the knot with long-time girlfriend Nolette in March, has had little difficulty achieving in Smith's absence.

Tucker captained Bermuda to victory over UAE last July at the ICC Trophy in Ireland to begin the Island's historical push to World Cup qualification after Smith ? plagued by a knee injury in the lead-up to the tournament ? pulled a hamstring against hosts Ireland in the first match.

The Southampton Rangers stalwart was also at the helm of the team during last April's training camp in Trinidad and during two friendlies against Namibia last October on the African continent.

Smith is scheduled to have major surgery to repair knee damage early this year and his replacement, Tucker, believes he's up to the task.

"With Clay out through injury I have a job to take care of. And I'm quite familiar with most of their (UAE) players and their style of play, having played against them in the ICC Trophy.

"It is always a privilege to captain the team and I just keep striving to do what's best for them. I always want to score runs and make sure everything falls in place for the team.

"It's more about being responsible for the team than anything else," said Tucker, who scored a century (104) against Malaysia on his ICC Trophy debut in 1997.

Of his performances last year, Tucker said: "On the whole I think I had a good season, but now I intend to take my game to the next level as the World Cup approaches.

"My whole attitude to cricket and everything else associated with the game has changed."

Last season saw Tucker captain Rangers to multiple cup titles and score a new ICC Trophy best of132 against USA and an innings of 123 spanning nearly eight hours against Canada in the ICC Intercontinental Cup in Toronto.

In 1999 Tucker became the first Somerset Cup Match batsman to score a century (100) in St.George's and in 2001 became the second to achieve the feat at Wellington Oval when he surpassed Lloyd James' previous best of 173 with a breathtaking knock of 186.

Tucker also shares a fifth-wicket partnership record worth 129 runs in Cup Match with national squad team-mate Saleem Mukuddem and is a two-time Cup Match MVP and Safe Hands Award recipient.

He also continues to emerge from under the shadow of his father John, who also previously captained Bermuda, Southampton and Somerset in Cup Match.

Tucker heralds from a family rich in local cricket tradition as great uncles Austin, Ambrose, Arthur and Elliot Simons (father's side) all played for Somerset while Calvin (Bummy) Symonds who captained St.George's from 1961 to 69 is his cousin on his mother's (Belinda) side of the family.