Consistency and complacency.

The lack of one and too much of the other have been traits all too identifiable with Bermuda sports in the past.

Just ask national cricket coach Gus Logie.

After his side qualified for last year's World Cup, those two words quickly came to mind.

The consistency which got the side there in the first place was nowhere to be seen, and some of the players who were a part of that accomplishment soon became complacent – to the point that even turning up for a training session became too much of a burden.

Given results over the last year or so, even taking into account that international matches couldn't be played on home soil due to the lack of a suitable venue, it was no surprise when Logie and his fellow selectors opted to go in a different direction when they chose the squad to take on Canada in the recent One-Day Series and four-day Intercontinental Cup matches in Toronto.

What they probably didn't bank on, having given a bunch of promising youngsters chance to do what their senior counterparts couldn't, were the results that followed.

A 2-1 victory in the ODIs and a thumping triumph in the four-day match!

Consistency? Three wins out of four – not bad. Complacency – no evidence of that!

Granted, senior members of the squad such as skipper Irving Romaine and the ever-reliable Dwayne (Sluggo) Leverock played a big role in securing those results.

But there were some outstanding performances from the young guns that hopefully will have left a few former members of the squad suitably embarrassed.

Canada, it might be argued, aren't the strongest cricket nation in the world. But in recent years they've regularly beaten Bermuda.

And while the Canadians – if we can call them that as most were born in various parts of Asia – will say this wasn't their most powerful team.

But, on paper at least, this was hardly the most talented side at Logie's disposal.

Now, just a few days later, those same players can prove that the surprise wins in Toronto weren't a flash in the pan.

Performing on might what turn out to be an NSC pitch that can't survive four days of cricket, they will attempt to give Scotland a run for their money.

Win or lose, thay can show that Bermuda cricket is back on track.

And maybe the thousands who cheered on the national football team in their recent World Cup loss to Trinidad, will offer the same kind of support.

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THOSE who watched last Sunday's men's singles Wimbledon final between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer might have witnessed the greatest tennis match ever played.

It might even be considered by some as one of the greatest sporting events in history.

For sheer drama, it's difficult to recall any match that's come close.

It wasn't just the players' outlandish, extraordinary talent demonstrated with one shot after another, but the unimagineable physical and mental strength that never waned over four and a half hours – the longest Wimbledon final ever seen – that kept viewers glued to their TVs.

And when it was all over, the humility displayed by these two arch rivals hopefully served as a reminder to a few other high profile athletes who think they're so wonderful.

Tiger Woods apart, it would be difficult to find too many others whose deportment and dignity matched their talent.

Tennis isn't always the most popular of spectator sports.

But the way Nadal and Federer performed somehow put to shame the so-called superstars of so many other international sports – a few of the namby-bambies who grace the European football scene and the underperfoming, overpaid beanstalks who dominate the NBA immediately come to mind.

– ADRIAN ROBSON