This past week was an astonishing week for cricket both locally and overseas.

First, England and West Indies played to a boring draw with Ramnaresh Sarwan producing his best Test innings thus far scoring, 291. Next was the shocking news of the Sri Lanka players' bus being targeted by terrorists. Meanwhile, the most depressing news in Bermuda was that of Delyone Borden being omitted from the national team due to his reaction to financial issues with the Bermuda Cricket Board.

This series of actions can be identified as the good, the bad and the ugly.

First let's take a look at the good. Personally, I am not an admirer of West Indies cricket, but Sarwan grabbed my attention from the first time that I saw him play. He impressed me with his technique, he looked very sound. It was disappointing to hear that Sarwan had scored 291 against my England team, but it did not surprise me because not only does he have the ability, but he has the temperament.

Cricket lovers, Sarwan's performance this week was just a tip of the iceberg of what his career promises to be.

Next we take a look at the bad. The Sri Lanka's players' and ICC officials' buses were hit by terrorists as they were on their way to the field to continue the Test against Pakistan. Several policemen were killed while two Sri Lanka players were injured from gunshots as 12 gunman wreaked havoc.

Reading an article from Kumar Sangakkara on cricinfo.com he stated: "For some reason I moved my head to get a better view and a split second later I heard a bullet fizz past my head into the vacant seat. As the bus driver made a run for the stadium we were narrowly missed by a rocket launcher which blew up an electricity pylon, while a hand grenade that had been thrown at the bus failed to explode."

My heart skipped a beat when I heard the news as not merely two years ago the Bermuda national cricket team were rubbing shoulders with many of the Sri Lankan players, with whom several of us made acquaintances. I am sure that I can speak on behalf of the past cricket World Cup team when I say that we are glad to see that all of the players eventually made it out safe, but our hearts go out to the policemen who were killed in this terrible act of violence.

Now for the ugly side of the sport in Bermuda.

Delyone Borden has been axed from the Bermuda squad due to financial issues. I am not in a position to write about what transpired, but I will address the loss that we as a country suffered. Delyone's omission will be a difficult one to swallow as his presence offers Bermuda so many options from the batting standpoint. On top of that, Delyone has developed into one of the top spinners on the Island. His ability as a fielder makes him one of Bermuda's top all-rounders.

When Bermuda qualified for the World Cup some four years ago, it was Delyone who played a major role in our success. Delyone along with OJ Pitcher saw off many of the top teams' opening bowling attacks, thus paving the way for our big hitters to come in and pound the rest of the bowling attack.

Delyone will be a big miss, but I cannot condone his actions. No one player makes a team as we learned from our last Cricket World Cup experience. It is my hope though that these problems can be ironed out in the future so that we can avoid something of this magnitude happening again.

Overall, when you look at this Bermuda team it is a well balanced team with an abundance of ability. There is a very good mixture of youth and experience. I am surprised to hear that the players still need to improve their attitudes, but this has to happen and fast. Come April 1 when Bermuda are due to play UAE, the entire team have to be 100 percent focused and unified.

Gus Logie and the Cricket Board must be given credit for giving our team the best possible preparation. The last four weeks have been gruelling at times for the players, but the results have been extremely encouraging. There is just no substitute for confidence and with a winning record of 9-2 Bermuda will be heading to South Africa beaming with confidence.

No-one in the cricket fraternity gave us a chance to qualify before and we shocked the world. I encourage the players to put their faith in God and never stop believing in yourselves or your team-mates and you too can experience the most unbelievable feeling of all, that of qualifying for the Cricket World Cup.

I leave you with these words from Vince Lombardi: "The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand."