Youth and opportunity will continue to be the buzz words this afternoon as a Bermuda Select XI play their second day-night match against Trinidadian club side Clico Preysal.

With under six months to go before the World Cup, competition is hotting up for spots on the 14-man squad which has to be selected by January.

Publicly at least, the selectors and team management continue to insist that they have not closed the door on anybody ? leaving room for the likes of David Ferreira, Malachi Jones, Rodney Trott, Azeem Pitcher, Arthur Pitcher jr and others to stake their claim.

The National Select XI were soundly beaten on Tuesday night by 84 runs, despite some encouraging performances from one or two of the young guns ? not to mention some respectable efforts by the more experienced campaigners.

Bermuda restricted the visitors to 211 in the field have lost the toss, before being bowled out for 127 in reply ? undone mainly by the pace and movement of young West Indies quick Ravi Rampaul as the floodlights came on and the dew descended at the National Sports Centre.

This late-season visit from one of Trinidad?s top club sides has also given assistant coach Herbie Bascome a chance to take the reins of the team ? with Gus Logie content to play second fiddle as his favoured understudy gains some valuable exposure.

Bascome said yesterday he was relishing the opportunity ? while adding that he hoped to continue learning from people like Logie and perhaps eventually be deemed good enough to coach the side on a permanent basis.

?I?m really enjoying it I have to admit,? said Bascome, who was with the team throughout their tour of Canada last month.

?I definitely appreciate Gus allowing me to get more involved and I?m getting a lot out of working with the players. They respect me and I respect them and in terms of my development as a coach, there?s nothing better than getting exposure at an international level.

?If I carry on learning and improving, then hopefully one day I might have the opportunity to become the national coach. That?s certainly a dream of mine ? as it would be for any local coach. But at the moment I?m just grateful to be where I am.?

Assessing the performance of his team on Tuesday night, Bascome praised their discipline in the field ? where the bowlers stuck resolutely to the plans and a number of excellent catches were taken.

?I though we did very well in the field and the guys deserve a lot of credit for how they bowled and fielded,? he said.

?To be honest, given the side we picked, I sort of knew we might have a problem with the batting if we lost a few early wickets, and that turned out to be the case.

?It?s a shame we couldn?t have seen off the new ball a bit better because it got a little easier after that, which was obvious when Rampaul came back for his second spell and we handled him pretty well.

?But we?re not that worried about winning these games ? if we get one or two of the younger players performing well and showing they have the mental toughness and desire to succeed at this level then we will be happy with that.

?What we?ve tried to do is pick a mix of the more experienced players Dean Minors, Kwame Tucker and Ryan Steede and blend the younger guys in with them. If we can get the more senior players leading from the front and setting an example then hopefully we can have a more competitive game this time around.?

The starting XI for today?s game will be revealed just prior to the start of play ? with Bascome hinting at one or two small changes from the team that took the field on Tuesday.

Play begins at 3 p.m. at the NSC.