himself as he sat in the St. David's pavilion reflecting on weekend victories by Bermuda over the Leeward Islands.

And no doubt the smile was still present yesterday as he headed off to Jamaica for a commemorative banquet hosted by the West Indies Cricket Board tomorrow.

Even though Bailey, coach Allan Douglas and the players themselves are under no illusions as to the task awaiting the team, the win will at least aid them in their preparation for the Shell/Sandals Cup next month in Guyana.

"I would think this tour has been our most successful tour in the last few years,'' said Bailey.

"The success against the Leeward Islands was not easy, it was well-earned and I congratulate the players. No doubt we'll go from strength to strength. We have a lot of optimism about Guyana.'' Bermuda will play two matches each against the Windward Islands, Barbados and hosts Guyana, with the winner advancing to the final against the winner of the group containing Jamaica, Leewards, Trinidad and Tobago and Canada.

"We know we're going to meet the best that the West Indies have to offer,'' Douglas acknowledged.

Even though the Leewards were missing some key players there can be little doubt that Bermuda were deserving of both victories on Saturday and Sunday against the defending Shell/Sandals champions.

"Some people had some comments `Oh, they're not much of a team' but you can call them not much of a team all you like,'' said Douglas.

"All of those guys want to be Test players and we want to play good for our country. If they weren't much of a team then some people should have been out there on the field listening to some of the sledging they were giving our players.'' After coasting to a 100-run win over Somerset, the Leewards faced their toughest opposition on the weekend as Bermuda restricted them in their batting and then reached their targets with three wickets intact on each occasion.

On Saturday, Arnold Manders clinched a last-ball victory in near darkness, nine overs after captain Albert Steede and Charlie Marshall turned down an offer for bad light from umpires Alex Virgil and Wilton Woolridge. The President's XI were six runs ahead of the Leewards at the same stage.

Janeiro Tucker showed himself to be capable of replacing the likes of Noel Gibbons and Clevie Wade as a Bermuda all-rounder, claiming eight wickets in the three matches and scoring 41 on Sunday as he and Dean Minors shared in a match-winning stand of 75 for the seventh wicket.

Leewards manager Everton Richardson, who came here in 1984 as a player, was also impressed.

"What I liked about them in particular was the fielding which I found to be first class while the batsmen are good clean hitters of the ball,'' he said.

The Leewards took the opportunity to groom a couple of youngsters as they, too, prepare for the Shell/Sandals.

"I'm sure it has been a learning experience for the younger players. It has broken them in and they must understand now that cricket is not an easy game,'' Richardson said.

The West Indians squad did not find the conditions to their liking. "I found the pitches very slow. I played here in '84 and the pitches were much quicker then. I'm really surprised at how slow the pitches are now,'' said Richardson.