SOME players struggle to make the adjustment from club player to an international one.

Not Chris Douglas!

The teenage left-hander, still three months short of his 19th birthday, showed his immense talent ¿ and mental aptitude ¿ with two half-centuries against Canada and the West Indies in his first and second appearances for the senior Bermuda team in the Scotiabank ODI Tri-Series in Toronto this week.

Royal Gazette reporter Colin Thompson, who covered the Canada tour, says everybody was talking about Douglas after his 113-ball 69 against Canada on Monday. They were talking even more on Wednesday after he followed up that debut knock with an innings of 53 against the West Indies, albeit in a losing cause.

Stephen Douglas is a very proud father after his son's achievements and was relieved to see him go on and post 50s after falling in the 30s in three of his last four big innings in Cup Match and Eastern Counties.

"As a batsman he has done more overseas than in Bermuda," said Stephen. "He has the ability to do well overseas. In 2004 he was Bermuda's leading batsman on the (youth team to Cayman Islands for Sir Henry Tucker Trophy) tour."

Stephen followed his son's innings on the internet and admits he was so nervous when Chris reached the 30s that he had to walk away from the computer.

"He has a habit of getting out in the 30s and I didn't want to read it," said Stephen. "I got in my truck and went home and when I got home I saw that he had passed that (50) so I was happy. I thought he would go a little further but he was probably a little exhausted from playing on Saturday, getting ready to go away on Sunday and then playing the very next day."

After Canada posted 260-7, Douglas led the Bermuda fightback with his 69 as he and opener Jekon Edness added 90 for the second wicket as Bermuda were competitively poised at 181-3 before four wickets went down in the space of 14 runs to derail the team's efforts. In the end Bermuda fell 25 runs short of their target.

On Wednesday the team lost again to the West Indies by six wickets, with Douglas again the shining light with his second straight 50. Already he has shown that the number three spot could be his for a long time to come.

Despite the two losses in Canada, there are some positives coming out of the national programme as young players start to come to the fore to push their claims, players like Oronde Bascome, Edness, George O'Brien, Stefan Kelly, Rodney Trott and Stephen Outerbridge, who scored a century recently against Canada in an Intercontinental Cup Match at the National Sports Centre.

Stephen Douglas, also one of the island's top umpires, hopes Chris's success will inspire other young players to want to play for their country and commit to the national programme. Some exciting new talent has been emerging this season as the youth programme continues with overseas tours for the under 13s and under 15s.

"We need to identify young guys who we want to play and work very closely with them and help them in every shape and form," Douglas believes.

"Sport is a great leveller and helps young men ¿ and young ladies ¿ to find themselves. I've spoken to him (Chris) about it, his uncle Allan (his coach at Warwick) has talked to him about it and his uncle Troy has talked to him also."

Stephen added: "He loves the game and takes it very serious. When he was younger he used to take my tape and tape the balls up and he used to bowl medium pace before, swinging the ball this way and that way. I remember one 24th of May we came back from the race and he was batting in the yard and asked me to bowl to him. He was about eight or nine then. And then he said ''I've got to bowl to you now', so he was fair about it even then."

This has certainly been Chris's coming-out season as he showed his promise with two good knocks in Cup Match, breaking into the Somerset team after a good season with First Division side Warwick. As the teenager showed in the two knocks in Canada, he is capable of playing a more contained and watchful innings when the situation calls for it.

"A First Division player was able to go up there (Cup Match) and, according to some people, out of his league and do fairly well," said Stephen. "I think to continue to have two leagues in Bermuda does more damage than it does good. I think one league would let us see how good some guys really are, because some guys do raise their standards against top opposition."

Chris played in the 2004 under-15 team which won the tournament in the Cayman Islands under captain Malachi Jones. The following year he played his first Eastern Counties match at the age of 15.

Making the Somerset Cup Match team this year meant that his father would have to miss out on officiating as an umpire, though he did act in the capacity of third official.

"I was always prepared to step down as an umpire," said Stephen. "I am an official so it wouldn't bother me, but I know the culture of the country so it would have been easier for me to back away than to go out there and try to be some hero.

"Actually I look forward to watching him bat in Cup Match and County games because that's the only time I see him play. I don't do his games. His mother sees him play more than I do."

As a former batsman himself Stephen is apt to analyse his son's game even more than most fathers would. "I try not to give him instruction that is contrary to what his coaches are giving him," he points out.

"Now that he's in the national team his instructions should come from Mr. Logie, they shouldn't come from me. He has to do what the national squad requires of him, not what I require of him."

Chris has already been told of the 90 his father scored in the Eastern Counties in 1985 and has vowed to surpass that. "I showed him the (Eastern Counties) book and he said 'daddy, I'll have it before you know it'," said Stephen.

Douglas sees an exciting way forward for the national team when the senior players like captain Irving Romaine, Dwayne (Sluggo) Leverock, Lionel Cann and Ryan Steede eventually bow out, as the new players coming through have been together since representing the country at youth level. Already several of last year's Under 19 World Cup team have progressed to the senior setup.

"There are still a lot of guys from the under 19 teams from 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2007 that we could put together two teams," said Douglas. "It's just a matter of putting together the right nucleus of players and making it work. I'm encouraged to umpire every week and see the youngsters coming through. I purposely did a Flatts game on Sunday just to see the young guy (David) Bedard play. I was impressed.

"I serve on the development committee on the board as the umpire rep and I'm always looking to better the cricket in Bermuda. Whatever I see when I go away as a umpire I try to implement into Bermuda's cricket."