Logie: Bermuda can qualify for World Cup again

Bermuda coach Gus Logie believes the island can still qualify for the next World Cup - despite a run of results that has seen his side plummet down the world rankings.

In an extensive post tour Q&A with the Bermuda Sun, Logie vented about lack of training facilities, lack of home fixtures, the inability of players to attend training and the regression of players at club level.

But he remains optimistic that when Bermuda return to Dubai in 2009 for the ICC Trophy they will have improved sufficiently to reach the top six and qualify for World Cup 2011.

"We have been able to achieve a hell of a lot but it's been in spite of [the obstacles]. We still expect a lot from our players but you have a situation where there is no national team in training. You can't have a national set up when you have four guys here and five guys there."

He added that part of the solution lay with the clubs and encouraged them to get their houses in order.

"We need people on the ground to do their part. They can't just point fingers at the national team. The national team comes from where? There has to be a bigger effort from the clubs - that's the academy. The clubs and the community are the ones that are producing the players. We can't have people doing the wrong things in the community and at the clubs and expect them to be eradicated at the national level."

He added that it was tough for national coaches to have an impact when they were required to work with skeleton squads in school hall gymnasiums while their opponents trained 24/7 on proper cricket fields.

Despite his misgivings about the state of Bermuda's infrastructure Logie insisted qualification for the World Cup in 2011 was still on the cards.

After defeats against unfancied Associate sides like Uganda and Denmark, Bermuda are now ranked 14th among the non-Test-playing nations in CricketEurope's unofficial standings - behind the likes of Jersey and the Cayman Islands. But anything is possible, says the coach.

"It's not going to be easy, but at the end of the day if you want something bad enough you can overcome the obstacles and achieve it. I'm quite optimistic about this group of guys and the young players we have at present."