?Throwing our players to the sharks? is the only way to prepare for the World Cup.

That was the view yesterday of Sports Minister Dale Butler, who played a major role in securing the $11 million that is bankrolling the next four years of the Island?s cricketing ambitions.

Speaking after the national side?s dismal whitewash at the hands of the United Arab Emirates, a side who Gus Logie?s men beat en route to qualifying for next year?s World Cup, Butler remained positive about the country?s long-term ambitions despite the size and manner of the five tour defeats.

?We did expect more from them,? said Butler, a vocal supporter of the national side throughout last year?s summer of unprecedented success.

?But it is in our nature to expect more from everyone who does anything in Bermuda. Of course no one can be happy with five defeats out of five games, but it is better it happens now than in the West Indies at the World Cup.

?By throwing our players to the sharks now, they will learn and be better prepared for the greater challenges ahead.

?This is a long process, it is about being ready for the World Cup and it is about being ready for the next World Cup and the World Cup after that.?

Logie?s men, admittedly missing key figures such as skipper Clay Smith, were outplayed in every department by the various UAE sides they faced, including one defeat against a largely experimental select side, leaving them without a one-day victory since last summer?s ICC Trophy in Ireland.

But Butler refused to criticise the players, despite the early rumblings of discontent from some sections of the Bermuda public, particularly now the players are being paid.

?It was an experimental side that played on this tour and perhaps the results reflected that,? continued Butler.

?But we should not be disheartened. It is important to learn from defeats such as this and learn from the mistakes and move ahead as a stronger side.

?This trip showed what the real deal is, and the real deal is not seen very often in Bermuda domestic sport.

?We need, in all sports, to go on trips like this to realise what the level of competition is and learn ways to improve in dealing with this high level of competition.

?You don?t learn from your mistakes at the Olympics, it is too late. You don?t learn from your mistakes at the Commonwealth Games, it is too late. And you don?t learn from your mistakes at the cricket World Cup, it is too late.

?You can?t be turning up at the World Cup and thinking ?oh my goodness these guys are good? and not be ready for them.

?You learn in advance for these big events and we will learn from what happened on this trip.?

There are plenty of lessons to be taken from the trip that saw Logie experiment with a variety of different opening partnerships as well as realising the tough, physical realities of playing back to back cricket ? injuries reached such a level that physio Daniel Morgan ending up playing in the last two of the tour games.

?I am not down, I am not disheartened and I am not worried,? continued an ebullient Butler.

?And I would caution the public not to get on the backs of the players and come out and publicly criticise what has happened. We have trust in these players and in this coach and in this administration.

?They got us to the World Cup and we shouldn?t speak out against them now just because of these defeats. We should get behind them with energy and confidence and let them know we are with them and are backing them.?

Bermuda Cricket Board chief executive Neil Speight had similar views on the tour debacle, remaining positive and repeating the ?learning experience? line.

?From the Board?s perspective we are obviously disappointed with the way the results went out in Dubai,? said Speight.

?It would have been a valuable learning experience for some of the younger guys but what is very clear is that we have an enormous amount of work to do if we are going to be consistently competitive at this level.

?To achieve our long term goals we need to be in a position where we are beating teams such as UAE every time, whether in season or out of season. One thing that has to be remembered as well is that the dates for the 2009 ICC Trophy have not yet been set. It might well be that it falls in the off season so it is extremely important that we learn to play good cricket away from home in our winter.

?Despite the setback, the Board understands the importance of getting the players away for ten days consecutively where the coach could work with the players without any interruptions. We are right at the start of what is to be a very busy year and we are all looking forward to seeing the team learn and improve through these experiences.?