The Bahamas cricket team were due to arrive in Bermuda last night ahead of their tour opener against a Bermuda XI tomorrow at White Hill Field.

The Bermuda Cricket Board is hosting the Bahamians for three days of matches, starting with a 50-overs contest tomorrow and also involving Twenty20 double-headers on Friday and Sunday at White Hill and the National Sports Centre, at 11am and 3pm.

Bermuda are using the matches to prepare for the ICC Americas T20 World Cup Qualifier next month. “The partnership with the Americas region means that we are now getting match practice for our T20 regional World Cup qualifiers in August and they [Bahamas] are getting exposure in order to get back on the international scene,” said Cal Blankendal, the BCB executive director.

The matches will be used as trial matches for the players hoping to gain selection for Bermuda in the tournament from August 15 to 25 against United States, Canada and the Cayman Islands. “Right now, there’s an open group of players training and from that will be a final selection,” Blankendal said.

“There are also going to be one or two of our under-19 players participating because we have to increase the pool of players. I just came back from the ICC annual congress and at a later date there are going to be more matches for the Associate members in T20 and one-day cricket, so we’re going to need a larger group of players. We’re doing everything we can to get the best team together.”

Kamau Leverock, who returned from England last weekend, is expected to be included for the matches. The turnout for training has been good under Bermuda head coach Herbie Bascome, who will be casting the net wide in search of new talent at national level.

“In the next two or three years, there are some players who we may have to look at replacing,” Bascome said. “My agreement with the board was when teams are coming in to try to get some of the fringe players playing games, so that they are not strangers to the level of cricket we’re trying to reach.”