Niggling injuries to two key players will force coach Gus Logie to delay his final team selection for the Intercontinental Cup clash against Kenya at the Gymkhana ground here in Nairobi, starting tomorrow, until the eleventh hour.

Vice-captain Irving Romaine and pace bowler Kevin Hurdle were both feeling the effects of an intense four-week training camp at the Pretoria Cricket Academy when they finally flew in from South Africa with team-mates Stefan Kelly and Kwame Tucker to join the rest of the squad late yesterday afternoon.

Romaine is suffering from a groin injury while Hurdle is experiencing discomfort in his shoulder and both were due to be treated by team physio Craig Brown last night and again this morning.

Logie, who met with the players immediately on their arrival, confirmed that he wouldn’t announce his final eleven until the injuries had been thoroughly assessed.

“Well, I think it’s been a tough four weeks for all four of them in Pretoria,” said Logie as he headed towards an early evening team meeting.

“They’ve had four weeks of rigorous training and it seems to have taken its toll on two of them, Romaine and Hurdle.

“What I’ve been told, having spent a few minutes with the guys just after they arrived, is that Irving suffered a slight groin strain a few days ago and Hurdle has slight soreness in his right shoulder. I’m hopeful in the next few days they should be ok.

“Kwame and young Stefan seem to be fine. I’m sure they will have learnt a lot from the experience.

“I’m hoping (physio) Brown will have a look at Irving and Kevin so that we can make an assessment as soon as possible. We’re looking forward to them showing us what they’ve learned over the past few weeks.”

As for the rest of the squad, Logie said there were no injury concerns.

“We had a good work-out today,” he said.

“They were all pretty cheerful. The jetlag is out of their system and they hit the ball very well and bowled pretty well.”

Meanwhile, the coach made it clear that the five-week African tour, which gets underway in earnest tomorrow, would be a final chance for the players to cement their place in the eventual World Cup squad.

“At this point in time, barring injuries, I couldn’t see there being many changes,” said Logie.

“I think we are pretty settled. The team have gelled pretty well, and barring any serious injury, I really couldn’t see it (World Cup squad) differing too much from what we have now.”

That said, missing youngsters OJ Pitcher and Delyone Borden, currently at school in the US, were still very much in the frame.

“I made it quite clear from the outset that they would figure in the selection process and that hasn’t changed,” added Logie.

“I think we should have everything finalised by the middle of December.”

As for the significance of the upcoming encounter against a Kenya side who claim to be rebuilding, for Bermuda it’s a case of “seeing where we are”.

“We’ve made some improvement over the last 15 or 16 months. It’s a matter now of really testing ourselves and gauging to what level we have risen.

“I have no doubt as a team we have grown and it’s a matter of performing to our ability against a side like Kenya.”

The return to fitness of Clay Smith and the introduction of Glamorgan skipper David Hemp would be significant, admitted Logie, although the emphasis still remained on team performance rather than that of any individual.

“I think they will make a difference . . . two experienced, class players who on their day can cope with any bowling attack.

“I’m looking forward to watching both of them in action, and for the other players to step up their game.

“But I don’t want to be dependent on any one or two players. We want to make sure that all 11 players can produce when needed.” As for the importance of the opening game, Logie said it could influence events throughout the entire tour.

“I think we always go into a game wanting to win. A solid performance in this game would put us in good stead confidence-wise for the one-day games coming up against Kenya and in South Africa.

“So I think every session we play we have to be mindful that it’s a learning process. Improvement in form, improvement in confidence, that’s what it’s all about.”

As Logie pondered team selection yesterday, manager Lionel Tannock was grappling with another problem — making his fourth trip to the airport in less than two days to try and track down missing luggage that failed to arrive with the players from London.

Some of the lost bags were finally retrieved yesterday morning but as of last night, gear and personal clothing belonging to Smith, Hasan Durham and Dwayne Leverock still hadn’t been located.