How far Bermuda have progressed since the triumph of World Cup qualification will be laid bare today when they take on their big rivals Canada at the Queen?s Park Oval.

Still smarting from a below-par performance in their only practice game last Saturday against Clarke Road United, when they were convincingly beaten by seven wickets, Janeiro Tucker?s men have re-doubled their efforts since arriving in Port of Spain on Monday morning, putting in two training sessions a day and talking of their determination to make it though to the final of the Tri-Series on Saturday.

?The guys have had a lot to think about since the practice game and to be fair to them they have been working extremely hard,? said coach Gus Logie before heading off yesterday to supervise morning nets at the Oval and watch Canada take on Zimbabwe in the opening game.

?We fell short in every department on Saturday and we cannot afford to do the same thing this week.

?These games are the most important we have played so far this year and the one thing that is encouraging is that the guys tend to perform better in the matches that really count for something.?

Logie was giving nothing away when it came to the potential make-up of today?s side, with the final XI not set to be revealed until an hour before the start of play.

Despite meeting to discuss the team last night, selectors Logie, Clay Smith and Janeiro Tucker are still waiting on the outcome of a last-minute fitness test on Lionel Cann, who is still battling with a strained groin.

They would all have been encouraged, however, by the sight of Kwame Tucker playing a full part in yesterday?s training sessions following his remarkably quick recovery from a badly bruised elbow.

There would have been quite a few dilemmas which would have occupied the selectors? thoughts last night.

While Kwame and Janeiro Tucker, Irving Romaine, Dean Minors and Saleem Mukuddem pick themselves as batsmen, there is still an opening spot up for grabs, to be awarded to Treadwell Gibbons jr, Azeem Pitcher or Daniel Morgan.

What Gibbons and Pitcher have got going in their favour is that they are both lefthanded, which would complement the right-handed Kwame Tucker at the top of the order.

What will work against them is their relative inexperience, and it remains unclear whether the selectors will want to risk blooding either of them in such high-profile games and in such a crucial position which has not yet been adequately filled.

Morgan, on the other hand, is a favourite of Logie?s and has improved considerably since the training camp in Trinidad last month ? though he failed to make much of an impression in the practice match, playing on for just five.

Much will depend on the fitness of Cann, who if able to play, will most likely slot in at number seven in the order, forcing the selectors to choose one from the remaining three out and out batsmen.

Given the opposite scenario, two of them stand to be selected because Logie?s determination to field a deep batting line-up will require the selection of an extra batsman rather than an extra bowler.

On the bowling front, both Dwayne Leverock and Hasan Durham will be inked on to the team sheet, leaving the three seamers to fight over the two remaining bowling slots.

Yet again this will prove a difficult decision to make as both Kevin Hurdle and Ryan Steede ? previously favourites for starting places ? were conspicuously below their best in the practice match, lacking rhythm and bowling far too many four-balls and wides.

George O?Brien jr would be the more imaginative and forward-thinking choice, particularly given his considerable improvement since returning from Australia.

This undoubted potential must be balanced by the fact that he would be playing in his first international match, and with Canada?s famously explosive all-rounder John Davison likely to open the innings, the selectors have no tangible evidence at their disposal to suggest how the young man will cope if the Canadian captain decides to go after him.

Though Bermuda put one over on them last year in the regional final of the Intercontinental Cup in Toronto, the Canadians have never lost to Bermuda with Davison in their ranks and new coach Andy Pick revealed yesterday how much the squad had been looking forward to exacting their revenge.

The one thing Bermuda have in their favour is that Canada?s first outdoor session of the year came only yesterday, with Pick admitting that their preparations had been severely hampered by training solely indoors and the logistics of having the players spread out over such a vast geographical area.

?The first time we managed to assemble the squad as one was when we all met up at the airport to fly down here,? said Pick, a former county cricketer in England who was previously involved in coaching England Under-19s before signing a one-year contract with the Canadian Cricket Association.

?So our preparations have been far from ideal. But we are making the best of the situation and to be fair I think we?ve managed to assemble what amounts to our strongest squad.

?I?ve listened to some of the guys who played in the Intercontinental Cup final talk about how much they are looking forward to playing Bermuda again and beating them, but I am one of those coaches that likes to focus my players on what we are capable of, rather than the opposition.

?In the context of some of the games we have coming up this year, I?ve made it clear to the players and to the Canadian media that for this week?s matches the results are not the be all and end all. It will give me my first proper look at what the side has to offer and then we can move forward from there.

?We will obviously go all out to win the games though, and with the team we?ve brought, I think we?re good enough to be in with a very decent shout.?