Uitvlugt cricket ground in Guyana against Brian Lara's Trinidad & Tobago on Wednesday, October 7.

While the West Indies captain's squad will no doubt prove to be formidable opponents for Bermuda, another strong threat in Zone One are hosts and defending champions Guyana who will once again be led by West Indies vice-captain Carl Hooper.

The fourth country in Bermuda's grouping are the Windward Islands.

The other grouping, Zone Two, will be played in Jamaica and will feature the host country along with United States, Leeward Islands and Barbados. The Americans, having sorted their internal problems to the satisfaction of the West Indies Cricket Board, have been invited for the first time and will now alternate with Canada annually.

The semifinals will be played in Jamaica on October 16 and 17 with the final scheduled for the 19th. These matches will be held at Kaiser Park in Discovery Bay.

Bermuda national coach Allan Douglas reckoned that the onus is on the local players to rise to the challenge and produce their highest level of cricket in order to remain competitive.

"I expect both Trinidad and Guyana to be at the same high level, perhaps we should be able to squeeze something out against the Windward Islands. What we have to do is set goals against these strong teams with Test players, goals like attempting to improve on our performances,'' said Douglas.

"Looking at our opponents, there is no doubt that Trinidad and Guyana are the toughest, but in tournaments like this all of our opponents are going to be tough to beat. So we have to go there with the intention of doing our best to produce our best performances.'' This year's draw has Bermuda taking on the Windward Islands at Everest cricket ground on October 9 and then Guyana at Hampton Court on October 11. Bourda, the country's only Test venue, plays host to only fone Zone One match, Guyana versus Trinidad on October 10.

Meanwhile, the West Indies Cricket Board has overlooked local umpires for the series, something which will no doubt concern members of the Bermuda Cricket Umpires Association.

RED STRIPE BOWL SCHEDULE ZONE ONE (in Guyana) October 6: Guyana v Windward Islands (Albion); Umpires: B.Morgan, C.Duncan; Stand-by: D.Narine.

October 7: Trinidad v BERMUDA (Uitvlugt); Umpires: E.Nicholls, D.Holder; Stand-by: P.Montfort.

October 8: Trinidad v Windward Islands (Enmore); Umpires: B.Morgan, C.Duncan; Stand-by: E.Hinds.

October 9: BERMUDA v Windward Islands (Everest); Umpires: C.Duncan, D.Holder; Stand-by: D.Narine.

October 10: Guyana v Trinidad (Bourda); Umpires: E.Nicholls, B.Morgan; Stand-by: E.Hinds.

October 11: Guyana v BERMUDA (Hampton Court); Umpires: E.Nicholls, D.Holder; Stand-by: P.Montford.

ZONE TWO (in Jamaica) October 6: USA v Leeward Islands (Kensington); Umpires: S.Bucknor, Z.Maccum; Stand-by: C.Fletcher.

October 7: Jamaica v USA (Chedwin Park); Umpires: N.Malcolm, Z.Maccum; Stand-by: C.Fletcher October 8: Barbados v Leeward Islands (Alpart); Umpires: S.Bucknor, B.Doctrove; Stand-by: T.Wilson.

October 9: USA v Barbados (Alpart); Umpires: T.Wilson, B.Doctrove; Stand-by: N.Malcolm.

October 10: Jamaica v Leeward Islands (Sabina Park); Umpires: S.Bucknor, Z.Maccum; Stand-by: C.Fletcher.

October 11: Jamaica v Barbados (Sabina Park); Umpires: B.Doctrove, T.Wilson; Stand-by: N.Malcolm.

FINAL FOUR WEEKEND At Discovery Bay, Jamaica October 16: First semifinal (Kaiser).

October 17: Second semifinal (Kaiser).

October 19: Championship game (Kaiser).