Having been a former national cricket captain, I have tried to give something back to the sport by offering advice to the current day players through the last few cricket articles.

One player in particular has taken a keen interest and that is Steven Outerbridge, Bermuda's national team vice-captain. This week I received an interesting e-mail from Mr. Outerbridge, which is worth sharing. At the end of his e-mail he asked a few pertinent questions and I will share my answers in this column.

Dear Clay (coach),

In reading your articles over the past few weeks I must say that I am encouraged and enlightened by the depth of knowledge you are providing for today's cricketers. It is without question that the ICC 2005 World Cup Qualifying team is the most successful group of sportsmen to ever leave the shores of Bermuda. However, I think it's very unfortunate that it has taken almost five years before the Bermudian public (e.g. present cricketers) are able to understand exactly what is needed to be a successful unit. Personally I feel this information should have been documented earlier to lay the foundation for national teams preceding the 2005 World Cup squad.

As we enter into a new era of Bermuda cricket I feel as though Bermudian cricket has gone a full circle whereas there is not much difference between the team of 2005 before they qualified for the 2007 World Cup and the current national senior cricket squad.

Nonetheless, there is an obvious gap in real star ability between the two teams. For instance, the 2005 national team included household names such as Albert Steede, Richard Basden, Janeiro Tucker and Dean Minors, to name a few, who without question are some of Bermuda's best players ever. While the present team in many areas does not match the Bermudian household name brand players of old but in recent times many of these players have outperformed their predecessors in terms of individual international cricket performance.

Bermuda has been playing on the international cricket stage for a few decades and one common pattern seems related to our big name players particulary our star batsmen, who regularly under-perform. On the other hand you have a player like Irving Romaine who, at the time of the World Cup qualification in 2005 was an ordinary domestic batsman but has been exceptional when wearing Bermuda colours.

With that in mind, my questions to you are based solely on unravelling a pattern that has restricted Bermuda's true ability to be a force in World Cricket.

Questions

Why do you think many of our more successful batsmen in local cricket are unable to make the grade at the international level?

To be quite honest there are several factors that stop our successful batsmen on local soil from doing well internationally. First, a lot of our successful batsmen have poor techniques that don't get exposed locally, but the minute they go overseas quality bowlers identify their weakness and expose it.

Secondly, our players are so accustomed to being successful that when they fail they do not have the confidence to bounce back because they start doubting their ability at the higher level.

Lastly, the reality is that there is a big jump between local and international cricket and in order to be successful you have to plan. Most of our cricketers just like the game, they do not take the game home with them. Playing against higher level opposition you have to study your opposition and put a plan in place that will help give you the best chance of being successful. e.g. I knew that when we went to Jamaica for Red Stripe they were not going to bowl anything up in the block to drive. So prior to going I worked diligently on my hooking. If you studied West Indies' bowlers when a batsman gets on top of them what ball do they always revert to? The bouncer! So I figured when they started bowling short at me if I could hook them it would give me an advantage because I would be taking their most lethal ball away from them and my ploy worked because now they had to pitch the ball up where I could drive and that was playing to my strengths even more.

Does performing at domestic level cricket in Bermuda provide a false sense of skill ability? If yes, why, and if not, why?

Yes, performing locally does provide a false sense of skill ability for both bowler and batsman to some degree. Bowlers particularly bowl on sub-par wickets here in Bermuda and get so much assistance it's absurd, thus not having to think a batsman out. However, when they go abroad and bowl on first class wickets that are non-bowler friendly they struggle because they have to think a batsman out, not something they have to do week in and week out.

From a batting standpoint it's weird because Bermudian batsmen are normally glad to play abroad because they know the wickets are extremely superior. Where our batsmen struggle is with the quality of bowling. Here in Bermuda each team may have two of three decent bowlers, so you know if a guy is bowling well you can just see him off the ball and somewhere you will get 10-20 overs of weak bowling. Well on the international level you do not get any weak bowling. Most teams have four front line bowlers with at least two or three optional bowlers to choose from, making runs harder to come by.

What type of characteristics should you consider when choosing a batsman to play international cricket?

This is a tricky question because there are different things that make different people successful. When I was captain I looked for players who were technically sound, cocky, gritty, team orientated, good listeners and cricket minded. Truthfully speaking a team needs a variety of players to make it successful. You just have to find a good blend. Look at the 2005 team. Clay – technically sound; Janiero – classy; OJ & Delyone –- resilient; Irving – controlled aggression; Chris – warrior mentality; Albert – stylish; Dean – gritty; Lionel – explosive. As you can see there is a wide variety but the single most important thing that all these batsmen had that made the team successful was they all played to their strengths and did what was in the best interest of the team. Players understood their role and played it to the best of their ability.

What advice can you give a young Bermudian batman who aspires to do well on the International stage?

To play at the highest level is one thing, but to be successful at the highest level is another. For a young player aspiring to be successful I say "You have to be willing to work harder than ever before". You will be required to make sacrifices in order to maximise your ability. There is no doubt you will be faced with obstacles along the way, but as long as you have a clear vision and your desire to succeed is great no one or nobody can stop you. Lastly, pay close attention to your coach as you can never stop learning.

In closing, it has been my pleasure to enlighten our young cricketers as they are about to venture on a once-in-a-lifetime journey to Namibia. A tour like this will surely test your character and love of the game. Stay focused, relaxed and enjoy the battle. At the end of the day leave it all on the playing field.

Quote for the week: "If you train hard, you'll not only be hard, you'll be hard to beat" – Herschel Walker.