HAMILTON, Bermuda (CMC):

National coach Gus Logie has saluted Bermuda's young cricketers after they secured a place in next year's Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia by narrowly beating Canada in Toronto at the weekend.

Logie singled out Under-19 coaches Arnold and Andre Manders and Clevie Wade for special praise, and offered the island's youngsters best wishes moving forward.

"I congratulate captain Rodney Trott and his players and the management team for a job well done. I think it's a great fillip for youth cricket in Bermuda and cricket in general on the island," Logie said from Holland while hiding his disappointment over the senior team who have so far lost every match on their European tour.

"Cricket has been on the front page for many different reasons over the past few months. But to have two teams qualify for a World Cup in two years has shown that something is being done right - be it at the (Bermuda Cricket) Board or ground levels."

Bermuda made their debut at this year's World Cup in the Caribbean but suffered heavy defeats in all three of their group-stage matches in Trinidad.

Praises

But while Logie sang the Under-19 team's praises, he also hammered home the point that there was still room for improvement.

"A lot more has to be done if we want to maintain any semblance of respectability on the world stage," he added.

"Qualifying (for the World Cup) is great, but as we have seen with the senior national team that is just the tip of the iceberg, as we still have a lot of work to put in."

Bermuda slow bowler Tamauri Tucker was voted best bowler of the Under-19 tournament in Canada, having claimed six wickets against the Bahamas in their opening game.

Three of the victorious young squad - MalachiJones, Rodney Trott and Stefan Kelly - will now join the senior squad in Ireland for this week's four-day Inter-continental Cup match against the Irish in Dublin.