ST JOHN’S, Feb 22: Bangladesh hope that their early arrival for the World Cup will help erase the threat of a repeat upset they suffered at the last tournament in 2003.

The Asian minnows suffered an embarrassing opening defeat to Canada at the start of their South African campaign, but they believe that by being the second of the 16 competing nations to arrive for the 2007 tournament they can avoid such horrors again.

“We are here to do as well as we can,” said coach Dav Whatmore, the man who led Sri Lanka to the 1996 World Cup title. “We are here a little early than most other countries which we think is a valuable asset to have.”

Bangladesh will play fellow finalists Bermuda and Canada at the Antigua Recreation Ground from Sunday as part of their build-up. They will then play official warm-up matches in Barbados against New Zealand and Scotland before travelling to Trinidad for their Group B matches against Sri Lanka, India and Bermuda.

Whatmore said the recent 3-1 series win against Zimbabwe had been a timely boost for the squad's confidence although they just managed to squeeze victory in the final match of the series by one wicket. “Our team spirit is very good,” insisted the coach. “The team has played some good cricket over the last six to eight months culminating in our first series victory abroad against a full ICC-member country. “So to go abroad and win was not easy for us. We have done that so the spirit is very, very high.”

Whatmore added that the matches against Bermuda on Sunday and Canada next Wednesday would be used to blood the younger members of the squad. “We would like them to use these games to get settled in a little bit quicker than what maybe the case,” he said. “The stage next month is a big one. It is becoming more of a reality. The team is becoming more matured. They are improving and we have strung together some pretty good victories albeit against opposition we were supposed to win against anyway.” —AFP