Bermuda's ICC preparation gets more serious, as the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) visit the island in May to play seven matches against various Bermuda select squads.

Most of these squads will be comprised of players that will be chosen to represent Bermuda at the ICC Trophy tournament to be held in Toronto in June.

The matches will give national coach, Roland Butcher one last opportunity to monitor the squad under actual game conditions and to fine-tune his plans for the tournament.

The MCC tour runs from May 15-29, with the opening match featuring the league champions, Western Stars Sports Club on May 17. The remaining matches versus select squads take place on May 19, 20, 22, 25, 26 and 27.

The Bermuda Cricket Board of Control recently launched their website - www.bermuda.cricket.org, which is being hosted by CricInfo.com, the world's number one cricket information portal. The site provides general and historical information on Bermuda cricket as well as links to its sponsors. It is very basic, however, it is hoped that it will be developed over the coming months.

Bermuda's ICC Trophy First Round schedule (Division 1 - Group B)
Thu Jun 28: v Denmark (Ross Lord)
Sun Jul 01: v Papua New Guinea (Maple Leaf)
Mon Jul 02: v Ireland (Maple Leaf)
Thu Jul 05: v USA (Ross Lord)
Fri Jul 06: v Hong Kong (Mallon)

The top three teams advance to the second-round league (July 9-13). The fourth-placed team plays the winner of the weaker Division 2, Group A, to determine who advances to the second round (July 7).

The ICC Final will be played on July 15 between the teams that finish first and second, while the match to determine the third and final World Cup spot, will be played on July 17 between the teams finishing third and fourth.

© 2001 CricInfo Ltd