As far as preparations go for a major tournament, things could have gone better for Andy Pick and his Canada side. Going from the sub-zero conditions of a North American winter to the mid-30s centigrade and maximum humidity of equatorial Kenya was never going to be an easy adjustment to make but nobody predicted five of the team would be struck down with a viral bug that would confine them to their sickbeds.

In the event, it forced the cancellation of its match with Kenya on Saturday, part of an ongoing ODI tri-series in Mombasa, and with the ICC World Cricket League Division 1 (WCL Div. 1) now just nine days away, the race is on to get the players back to fighting fitness.

Coach Pick was another victim of the mysterious illness that was also visited upon members of the third team in the tri-series, Scotland, and even Ian Gould of the Emirates International Panel of ICC Umpires.

'Yes, it hasn't exactly been ideal but the guys affected are now hopefully on the mend and we are looking forward to the rest of this tri-series and then the World Cricket League,' said Pick, who is still managing to stay upbeat.

'Overall, I am pretty happy with how we are going. I think we are playing as well now as we have played since I took over as coach (in April 2006). We are certainly aiming for a place in the final of the World Cricket League and to be honest, there is no reason why we cannot go and win it,' he said.

And looking at the Canada squad it is easy to see why that confidence may not be misplaced.

In Henry Osinde and Umar Bhatti (right) it has what is generally considered to be the best new-ball partnership among the Associate teams and with the vastly experienced former West Indian seamer Anderson Cummins to call on as well as left-arm spinners Kevin Sandher and Sunil Dhaniram, Pick has plenty of options.

With the bat, wicketkeeper Ashish Bagai has been in form of late, as has Qaiser Ali. Both are veterans of the intensive ICC Winter Training Camp in Pretoria (Bagai in 2006, Qaiser 2005) and the skills they picked up there are clearly working to their advantage.

Bagai made an unbeaten 64 off 66 balls against Scotland in Mombasa last Thursday while Qaiser hit 70 (off 82 deliveries) in the same match.

Skipper John Davison is, of course, a vital cog in the Canadian wheel. He famously scored the fastest ICC Cricket World Cup century when he took just 67 balls to pass the magic three figures against the West Indies at Centurion in 2003 and he remains a hugely important figure as a pinch-hitter at the top of the innings for his team in one-day matches.

'John is a quality player, both for his batting and bowling (right-arm off-spin). He is also a player of great experience and a very good captain,' said Pick.

'The World Cricket League is a great chance for us to prepare for the World Cup in the West Indies but it is also an important event for us in its own right. We want to establish ourselves at the top of the Associate countries and help raise the profile of cricket in Canada in the process,' he added.

'I think the World Cricket League is quite open at this stage. From what I have seen I think there is a similar level of quality across the top Associates. The side that can make the fewest mistakes during the tournament I think will be the one to win it.'

Canada (squad): John Davison (captain), George Codrington, Kevin Sandher, Desmond Chumney, Ashish Bagai, Umar Bhatti, Austin Codrington, Anderson Cummins, Sunil Dhaniram, Sandeep Jyoti, Don Maxwell, Asif Mulla, Henry Osinde, Qaiser Ali, Abdool Samad.