yesterday, preventing the squad from playing their first match, national coach Allan Douglas insisted the trip south had not been a waste of time.

The team left over a week ago and due to the poor weather and holiday festivities, have still not played a single match.

But Douglas said from his hotel yesterday: "It certainly hasn't been anything like a flop, far from it.

"The rainy weather here is often terrible, but at least today we were able to have a good, long work-out. The sun is out right now, mid-way through the afternoon and hopefully everything will dry out and enable us to play our first match tomorrow against a Guyanese Select.'' The squad is making use of the tour to meet on a regular basis, discuss tactics and train in preparation for this year's ICC Trophy in Malaysia.

"The main problem here is getting the pitches to dry. But we are still able to do a lot,'' explained Douglas. "We are constantly training, twice a day, meeting often and talking nothing but cricket.

"I strongly believe we are still benefiting from the tour because at home I can hardly get in any time with the players. In Bermuda I just have them for an afternoon and that's that, and usually when I do it's not a full squad because of work commitments.

"This present situation is a plus even though we haven't played a single game. Just having us together and spending the time as a group means a lot.

It's a big plus.'' Douglas agreed, however, that the players needed match practice. "Playing a match would be an added bonus,'' he admitted.