On the field, results have hardly gone Bermuda’s way at the World Cricket League in Kenya this week.

Off the field it hasn’t been a great deal better, with certain segments of the media continuing to harp on about what they perceive as a lack of commitment from Bermuda’s players.

Welcome to the world of international cricket! What the Island’s players are fast learning is that you can get away with an awful lot while isolated on a tiny dot in the middle of the Atlantic, but when you climb onto the big stage, scrutiny from the international press is far more searching — often cruel and unkind.

Late last year the prominent cricket website Cricinfo took a swipe at Bermuda, claiming they were nowhere near fit enough to compete at this level.

The website was no less scathing after the team’s ten-wicket beating by Kenya earlier this week.

“The Bermuda side left Kenya in November after a 3-0 series whitewash amid accusations that they were unprofessional and unfit,” noted this week’s Cricinfo report.

“Sadly, those same criticisms were again voiced yesterday. ‘They were smiling and laughing as they walked off the field after being thumped,’ said one eyewitness. ‘They seemed to lack fight and any willingness to battle’.”

Another correspondent who occasionally works at the London Times alongside Bermudian journalist Dexter Smith, the former national team player who topped the batting averages on Bermuda’s ICC Trophy campaign in Kenya in the late 1990s, was no less complimentary.

“I don’t think Dexter would be impressed with this lot,” he told me.

“The night before the Ireland game some of them were still in the hotel bar late into the evening, it’s not what you’d expect to see from professional cricketers.”

Such criticism, even if sometimes based on perceptions rather than hard facts, might not be easy for the Bermuda players to swallow.

It’s true many of them still play with a smile on their face and perhaps not with the intensity that you see from other teams. Skipper Irving Romaine wears a constant grin no matter what the dilemma, although that shouldn’t disguise the fact that he wants to win as much as anyone.

The transition from domestic club cricketer to full-time international player competing on the second tier of world cricket hasn’t been an easy one.

And both coach Gus Logie and the team’s newest addition, county player David Hemp, seem to agree that some have adapted much better than others.

Hemp told Cricinfo this week: “At the end of the day, Bermuda are amateurs. They’re not professionals and they all have jobs. They realise that this is new but they’re slowly starting to realise it’s not just about the technical things.

“ . . . Other countries just don’t get tired, whereas our players do. Fitness is just not part of their job, their culture — and we’re trying to change it quickly, but it’s very hard and it takes time. But it’s not just that; it’s the dietary side of things as well.

“There will always be negatives but it’s about building on the positives. We need to look at how the other sides play and learn from them. Keep learning and don’t make the same mistakes. Unfortunately, though, we’ve got to learn quickly. We’re in the World Cup now — all eyes are on us.”

That learning curve that we keep hearing about sometimes seems to get steeper with every match.

But while, as mentioned, results often haven’t been favourable in the last few months and Bermuda will almost certainly be seen as the whipping boys heading into next month’s World Cup, not all of Bermuda’s players should be tarred with the same brush.

Veteran Dean Minors, for instance, has been a model of consistency.

Nobody’s been able to lift his game more than the stocky wicketkeeper, who’s bludgeoned half-centuries in both matches this week as well as providing impeccable service behind the stumps.

Clay Smith’s bulldog spirit, meanwhile, is something which Logie probably wishes would rub off on others.

Having been dismissed for a third-ball duck in his opening match against Kenya, the former skipper came out against the Irish with a determination which made it clear from the beginning he wasn’t about to tolerate another failure.

He treated the opening bowlers with disdain, dispatching them to all corners of the ground in a fast-paced innings of 50 which should have laid the foundation for a Bermuda victory.

Alas, another mixed bowling performance resulted in yet another defeat. And it has to be said there are some in this team who don’t share Minors’ and Smith’s passion.

Pace bowler Kevin Hurdle would appear to be one. He was wildly erratic on the tour of Africa in November and on his return to Kenya this week there’s been no sign of improvement. What makes matters worse is that his body language often suggests his heart isn’t in the game.

That’s an accusation he might bitterly resent. But it isn’t one-man’s view. It’s an opinion that’s been voiced in the press box by others this week.

Some other players have shown similar traits.

It’s perhaps too late to make too many changes now. But after the World Cup there has to be a serious assessment of all of Bermuda’s players. If the pressure at this level is too much to bear, if this isn’t really where they want to be, then they must step aside and give some our promising youngsters a chance.

The continuing improvement of teenager Malachi Jones is a good example of how quickly younger players can adapt when exposed to a higher standard.

In the meantime, it’s not going to get any easier . . . on or off the field.

International press at major sporting events don’t pull their punches, as Bermuda are fast finding out. And another defeat to Canada today will surely give the media sharks much more to feed on.

- ADRIAN ROBSON