IF THERE?S ever been a roller coaster cricket season like this, then, quite frankly, there can?t be too many who recall it.

First the euphoria of ICC Trophy success in Ireland, then the controversy of Cup Match, and now a quite remarkable victory over Canada in the ICC Continental Cup.

Where will it all end?

Hopefully, some 7,000 miles away in Namibia.

For if Bermuda can duplicate yesterday?s victory when they take on what should be a much less formidable Cayman side in the second of their two three-day matches, starting tomorrow, then that?s exactly where the team will be heading ? for the Intercontinental Cup semi-finals later this year.

And nobody can say Gus Logie?s men don?t deserve it.

Take away the shambolic scenes of Cup Match, and it would be fair to say that Bermuda cricket has come on in leaps and bounds this year.

There have been some superb performances at the domestic level, but most notably on the international stage, and surely none better than the brilliant century by Janeiro Tucker which paved the way for yesterday?s defeat of Canada.

True, the Canadians were without their inspirational skipper John Davison and hard-hitting batsman Ian Billcliff. But the team were still littered with players with far more international experience than anyone on the Island side.

Tucker was to Bermuda what Davison has in the past been to Canada ? a one-man demolition squad.

But don?t think for a minute this was a one-man show. Much like that which unfolded in Ireland just over a month ago, this was a triumph which owed as much to unwavering team spirit as it did to any individual heroics.

Twice, at the beginning of each of their innings, Bermuda were on the canvas and about to be counted out. And twice they got back up to knock the living daylights out of their shellshocked opponents.

Tucker threw the biggest blows, but there was hardly anyone in the team who didn?t make a major contribution of some sort. And that seems to be the big difference between this national team and those of our recent past.

Logie appears to have instilled an unshakeable sense of self belief. When teams of the past might have folded, this one simply refuses to lie down.

And nobody demonstrates that spirit more than skipper Clay Smith who, it sometimes seems, courts controversy no matter what he does.

Regardless of how Smith performs on the field, there always appear to be those who are willing to take a shot at him once he steps off it. It?s been that way for most of this season.

Critics questioned his captaincy and even inclusion in the ICC Trophy squad that travelled to Ireland because of a troublesome knee injury that had hindered his preparation. And when he got there and pulled a hamstring in the opening game against Ireland, subsequently missing the remainder of group matches, his overall fitness again became a hot topic for discussion.

On return there was the Cup Match fiasco with Smith again the target of critics ? a photo of him taunting and teasing Janeiro Tucker on the latter?s dismissal providing a fair reflection of the poor spirit in which this year?s classic was played.

Yet there were far more unsavoury incidents during the two-day match that were never captured on camera.

Through it all, however, it sometimes seems to be conveniently forgotten that Smith nearly always comes good when it matters most.

That was certainly the case in Toronto this week. Had it not been for his workmanlike half century in the first innings, after Canada?s bowlers had reduced Bermuda to a sorry 13 for four, then the Island team might have been utterly humiliated.

Another innings of 45 in his second visit to the crease again restored respectability after what was becoming an all too familiar early order collapse.

Of course, Tucker, Dean Minors, Dwayne Leverock, Saleem Mukuddem and Hasan Durham all went on to make equally huge contributions. But before the knives come out again, the cynics might want to take a very close look at Clay Smith?s international record over the past few years and what he again achieved this week.

With Smith at the helm, his vice-captain Tucker dominating the opposing attack and the rest of Logie?s side showing enormous heart, there?s really no telling how far this national side can go.

IT?S Hall of Fame time again this weekend. And the big question on most people?s lips is whether the Island?s only Olympic medallist, Clarence Hill, will be included on a list for which he was controversially omitted in the inaugural ceremony a year ago.

Despite the heavyweight boxer?s criminal record, there were many who believed he was unfairly snubbed. And most believe amends will be made this time around.

But don?t be too sure.

As a source close to the selection panel pointed out this week, the criteria for induction hasn?t changed.

And if Hill is to join his fellow sporting heroes on stage at the Fairmont Princess, then some rules might have to be bent.