Since recovering from a slight groin injury earlier this year, St. David’s’ all-rounder OJ Pitcher has impressed with the bat.

One of the youngest members on Bermuda’s World Cup squad, Pitcher possesses a temperament well beyond his 23 years.

On recent trips to Antigua and St. Vincent, Pitcher managed good starts at the crease, but failed to post big numbers when seemingly on top of the bowling.

Apart from a cameo appearance against England in a World Cup warm-up match in St. Vincent, Pitcher has managed to reach double figures.

The 2006 Cup Match MVP struck a solid 30 against Test team Bangladesh at the Antigua Recreation Ground three days after hitting an unbeaten 38 against hosts Antigua at the same ground.

But even he acknowledges that he can do better with a little more patience.

“I’m getting good starts and feeling confident from ball one. But right now the key for me is to try and go on,” he said during training yesterday.

“I think more than anything else I lose my patience. Sometimes I’m middling the ball but hitting it right to the fielder. And at times this can get very frustrating and unfortunately sometimes I tend to play rash shots which have gotten me out.

“You just have to play the ball on its merit and not get worried about who’s bowling. I just have to keep my eye on the ball and not worry about who the bowler is because these guys (professionals) are human just like us.”

One of the younger members of the squad, Pitcher finds himself shouldering a heavy load on cricket’s biggest stage. But he’s determined not to be overwhelmed by the big occasion.

“I think it’s just a mental thing for us because really nobody expects us to win. But we have set ourselves realistic individual goals to strive for, and really want to give a good account of ourselves in the World Cup.

“I never thought I would be here at the World Cup, and still can’t believe that we are actually here,” Pitcher added. “I guess it will really strike me on the morning we play our first game (against Sri Lanka tomorrow). It hasn’t sunk in yet and you really can’t explain it.”

As for last week’s heavy defeat at the hands of England, Pitcher said: “For most of the players it was the first time playing against the likes of Flintoff (England pacer Andrew Flintoff). But we are now determined to use that as a learning experience.

“We’ve been putting in the training and I think the thing that is going to bring us through is our unity. Everyone is close on this team, and hopefully we can all play to our full potential.”