Chris Foggo, the young wicketkeeper-batsman from St. David's, left the Island yesterday to begin a two-month stint at the University of Port Elizabeth International Cricket Academy in South Africa.

The 18-year-old, who appeared at the Bermuda Cricket Board of Control for an official send-off on Thursday night, said that he is excited about the opportunity.

"I'm looking forward to it but I don't know much of what to expect other than what I've been told," he said.

Foggo, who will be joined by Lucas Paterlini, the promising fast bowler from Argentina, will be exposed to the latest coaching methods at the UPE academy, which has an established reputation and employs an expert staff of coaches, sports scientists and medical personnel.

"I'm hoping to impress them with my skills but learn a lot as well," Foggo added. "For years, they've been saying that if you want to get a good player he needs to be playing more instead of working.

"This gives me an opportunity to see how far I can take my skills, given the proper treatment and nourishment.

"This can only help to build a strong national squad for the future. We need to be getting more than five players with international exposure to blend with what you've already got."

The length of the engagement means that Foggo will be unavailable for Bermuda when the Americas Cup takes place in Argentina from March 9 to 16. But Stephen Outerbridge, the Bermuda Under-19 captain, and OJ Pitcher are among some of the Island's leading young players who can expect to play a role when the travelling party is announced in the coming weeks.

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Bermuda, who have yet to settle on a captain, open the six-team tournament with a match against Bahamas before meeting Canada, the champions and tournament favourites, Argentina, Cayman Islands and the United States. The top two teams from the round-robin stage will meet in the final on March 16.

Canada, who qualified for the World Cup last summer, are expected to field a weakened team because of their involvement in the ICC Six Nations Challenge, in Namibia from April 7 to 14, which will also feature Holland, Namibia and Kenya as the ICC Associate Member representatives heading to the World Cup, plus Sri Lanka `A' and Zimbabwe `A'.

Americas Cup schedule

March 9 Argentina v Canada; Cayman Islands v United States; Bahamas v Bermuda

March 10 Cayman Islands v Argentina; Canada v Bermuda; Bahamas v United States

March 12 Bermuda v Argentina; Canada v United States; Cayman Islands v Bahamas

March 13 Argentina v United States; Canada v Bahamas; Bermuda v Cayman Islands

March 15 Bahamas v Argentina; Canada v Cayman Islands; Bermuda v United States

March 16 Final