Four of the Island?s premier cricket clubs are set to do battle for Belco Cup supremacy this weekend.

Starting today, last year?s beaten finalists St.David?s take on four-time winners Western Stars at Somerset Cricket Club while defending champions Southampton Rangers rest their title on the line at Lords against a Bailey?s Bay team making their first appearance in the competition since it changed sponsorship three years ago.

The final is set for Lords tomorrow.

With the national team having returned from overseas duty, all four participating teams are expected to be near or at full strength.

Rangers coach Clevie Wade insisted yesterday that the cup holders didn?t intend parting company with the coveted showpiece they first won in 2003 ? three years after coming up short against Stars in the final.

?The team that we have is a very experienced one that has been there before and know what it takes to be champions,? said Wade.

?Our aim is to go out there and do well in all three departments . . . batting, bowling and fielding. And I feel we can get the job done.

?It?s always an honour to play at Lords where we seem to always do well. Lords has been a good hunting ground for us and so we are very excited to be going down there again.?

Wade was a member of St.George?s? Belco Cup winning squad that defeated Bay by 11 runs at Southampton Oval in 1988.

Despite the absence of injured wicketkeeper/batsman Kwame Tucker, Rangers enter today?s clash with a team possessing tremendous batting depth and billowing with experience.

But Wade admitted Tucker?s experience would be missed.

?It is a setback because he is a very experienced player,? added the coach. ?But this team has depth and Rohaan (Simons) has done a great job (wicketkeeping) for us so far.?

Although Rangers have already beaten his team twice this season, Bay coach Noel Gibbons remained cautiously optimistic his charges could upset the champions and advance to tomorrow?s final.

Bay have been bolstered by the return of national team members Irving Romaine and Jim West.

Romaine said his team had set their sights on winning a fourth overall Belco Cup title.

?We are excited to be back in the Belco Cup and we are looking to play our hardest and winning it all,? he declared. ?The guys have won their last couple of games and so hopefully we can carry that momentum into the semi-finals.?

Romaine said his team-mates were keen to pull one over the defending champions.

?Everybody is gunning for Rangers because they are the so-called All-Star team and so we just have to raise our game because we already know what they have,? he added. ?We just have to buckle down and play cricket.?

Bay, however, will be without strike bowler Ryan Steede who is currently on a seven-week playing stint in the UK with Atherstone Cricket Club.

?Steede will definitely be missed because he is one of main attack seam bowlers,? Romaine added. ?But it should be a good battle.?

Meanwhile, Stars hope to rebound from last weekend?s Central Counties defeat to Police and shock league loss to Premier Division newcomers Warwick.

Stars? semi-final with St.David?s today will be a repeat of the 2004 Belco Cup final which saw Stars emerge victorious.

?I think this is one time we are going to keep our cards close to our chest,? commented usually outspoken Stars coach Milford (Ju Ju) Waldron.

Stars? ranks have been bolstered by the return of all-rounders Saleem Mukuddem and Hasan Durham and opening bat Treadwell Gibbons jr.

St.David?s have also been reinforced by the return of national team members OJ Pitcher, Delyone Borden and George O?Brien jr.

The Islanders, champions in 2001 and 02, have finished runners-up in the competition for the past two years.

The annual competition, involving the top four Premier Division finishers from the previous season, was inaugurated in 1987 and originally referred to as the Premier Cup until 1989.

Sponsors Camel, who pumped an estimated $750,000 into local cricket, then backed the event for the next 13 years before withdrawing in 2003.

Devonshire Recreation Club were the inaugural winners of the competition, St.George?s hold the record for the most overall wins (five), while Stars have appeared in the most finals (11).

The winners of today?s semi-finals will advance to tomorrow?s final at Lords which will see players from both sides wear coloured clothing for the first time.

Bermuda Cricket Board executive Wendell Smith, who previously led St.George?s to Belco Cup titles in the late 1980s and 90s, will put on a cricket demonstration involving some of the Island?s youth cricketers at Lords tomorrow.

Board officials will also be on hand selling national team merchandise.