National cricket coach Mark Harper, due to jet off to Toronto today with the senior squad, remains highly confident of Bermuda?s chances of success in their ICC Intercontinental Cup three-day match against Canada which begins on Friday at the rural Sunny Brook grounds.

Prior to jetting off, Harper described the Island?s team as very ?capable? and one which possessed the ability to topple the might of a John Davison-led Canadian side and advance to the semi-finals of the first class competition in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the fall.

?We are going there to give it our best shot and try to win the game,? declared a confident Harper. ?We have a very balanced side with a couple of very good seamers along with Dwayne (Leverock) ? who is an exceptional spin bowler ? and young Delyone (Borden) with an option of calling on Irving Romaine if the need should arise.

?I think we have a balanced attack but the wickets in Canada are known to favour the seam bowlers and so if we do encounter this sort of track, then I think we will be well equipped. It will be just a matter of us concentrating on getting the job done.?

The coach is also banking on in-form batsmen Saleem Mukuddem and skipper Clay Smith to carry their form north of the border.

?I think Saleem is a very good player and the longer version of the game suits his style of play as he is a very watchful player who likes to accumulate his runs and I hope he can carry that good form into the Canada game,? said Harper.

?I think our guys are experienced cricketers and we will have a day and a half to settle down before the match starts and the guys are very determined to go out there and really play some good cricket. And I expect them to rise to meet the challenge.?

Having already had a look at the opposition during last month?s Americas Championship one-day tournament on local soil, Harper has come up with a ?few strategies? he hopes will contain an aggressive Canadian team.

?We know their (Canada) strengths and weaknesses,? he said. ? But I think it?s important we bowl well and don?t allow them to score a big total and we will plan our strategy on counteracting that.?

Harper will also employ a strategy he hopes will silence the big bat of Canadian skipper Davison.

?John is an exceptional player and we have looked at various tactics which we intend to use against him. But he is an all-round player and a very aggressive batsman and we do have a strategy in place for him. So we will have to be very watchful of him whenever he bats. But there are also other players in the team that need to be watched.

?We just need to go out there and adhere to our game plan and hopefully it all comes together during the game.?

In order for the Island to reap any success the team?s batting will also need to improve in leaps and bounds, said Harper.

?I?ve spoken to a few of the players individually and looking at the previous game (USA) I think the guys realised they are going to need a bit more patience in order to apply themselves more at the wicket,? he added. ?But I really expect the guys to acquit themselves well and rise to the challenge.?

Bermuda lost by 114 runs in their opening ICC Intercontinental Cup match against USA and will now have to defeat Canada convincingly if they are to stand a chance of progressing to the UAE in November.

USA currently top the Americas group points standings with 47 points, Canada have 30.5 while Bermuda sit on 16.5.

Canada defeated USA by 104 runs in their opening cup match at Brian Piccolo Park in Fort Lauderdale, Florida last May with Davison paving the way by scoring 84 runs in his team?s first-innings before going on to grab an astonishing 17 wickets for 137 runs.

A story in yesterday's relating to Bermuda Under 23s cricket campaign in Jamaica attributed comments to Southampton Rangers' Clevie Wade. In fact, the comments were made by Clevie Foggo. apologises for the error.