Bermuda’s cricketers were humbled in St. Vincent yesterday when they lost their opening World Cup warm-up game to England by a massive 241 runs.

But it was the gutsy performance of the Island’s giant spinner Dwayne (Sluggo) Leverock that really captured the imagination and provided a shaft of light on what was otherwise a horribly dark day for the national team.

“England’s batman bamboozled by 290-pound Policeman” proclaimed a headline on the BBC’s Sport website at one stage yesterday, in reference to Leverock’s dismissal of both Paul Collingwood and Kevin Pietersen — the latter regarded by many as the best limited overs player in the world.

While the rest of his national team colleagues froze on the grandest stage of their cricketing lives, the larger-than-life Leverock appeared to revel in the spotlight — producing the incredible figures of two for 32 off his allotted ten overs.

And while Leverock’s fantastic efforts did little to inspire Bermuda’s batsman, who were dismissed for a paltry 45 chasing a massive 287 to win, even the most cynical of English newspaper reporters present yesterday felt compelled to voice their admiration.

“Dwayne Leverock is probably the unlikeliest looking cricketer at the World Cup,” wrote former England seamer Angus Fraser and now cricket correspondent for the Independent newspaper in the UK.

“As a teenager he represented Bermuda as a 110-metre hurdler and it would be fair to say he has let himself go just a little since then.

“Despite his girth, the left-arm spinner proved to be too good for Paul Collingwood and Pietersen. Collingwood followed a ball that turned sharply and was caught behind, Pietersen came down the pitch and was stumped. Shane Warne would have loved to have dismissed his friend in such style during the Ashes.”

And London’s Evening Standard’s website, said:<\p>“Left-arm spinner Leverock, who bears a stronger resemblance to a sumo wrestler than an elite sportsman, may not look like a serious cricketer. But he had enough about him to bamboozle England's middle order with his left-arm spin, firstly inducing Paul Collingwood into edging a turning delivery behind.”

Afterwards, a modest Leverock pointed to the slow, turning pitch as the reason for his terrific day.

But England captain Michael Vaughan was in no doubt as to the true nature of the big man’s performance.

“He bowled very well,” said the skipper.

“He bowled his ten overs really well. Bermuda seem to have a few talented players and that left arm spinner looks like he could be a real threat to all of the teams in the World Cup.”