Match referee Clive Lloyd has urged the Cup Match teams to ?respect the game? ahead of the 105th instalment of the classic at Somerset tomorrow.

The former West Indies captain, who was flown in by Bermuda Cricket Board to oversee the match, said yesterday he had no intention of undermining the game?s fiercely-guarded traditions.

But he insisted that both he and the umpires would deal quickly with any repeat of last year?s disciplinary problems while stressing that Bermuda?s qualification for the World Cup imposed new standards and expectations on all local cricketers.

?I want people to realise that I am not here to spoil the game,? he said while lunching with former West Indian offspinner Lance Gibbs and BCB chief executive Neil Speight in Hamilton yesterday.

?I?m here to see that the game is played in the spirit it is supposed to be played. There is a certain standard of behaviour on the field that everybody must adhere to and let us hope that the players will do that.

?I won?t be fulfilling exactly the same role I do as a match referee for the ICC, in the sense that I will not have the power to discipline players on the spot by issuing a ban or fining them a portion of their match fee.

?I will be liasing with umpires to ensure the code of conduct has not been breached in any way and when the game is finished I will prepare a report for the BCB detailing how the game unfolded and perhaps some recommendations for how it could be improved as a whole.

?It is very important ? particularly with Bermuda qualifying for the World Cup and being more involved in international cricket than they ever have been before ? for the players to act according to the highest standards so that they get accustomed to what is expected of them at the World Cup and elsewhere.?

Asked how he proposed to deal with the tradition of regular pitch invasions by spectators ? usually to stuff money in the pockets of a batsman who has reached a milestone ? Lloyd said he had ?absolutely no problem? with it so long as it did not result in unacceptably long breaks in the flow of the game or endanger the players in any way.

?It?s not the case anymore, but that sort of thing used to happen in the West Indies all the time and I do not see anything wrong with it,? he said.

?It is actually a wonderful thing to have such old and cherished traditions and I have no intention of trampling over them because it is not my place to do so. Obviously myself and the umpires will have to review the situation if the game is held up unduly by people coming onto the field, but as far as I am concerned it is part and parcel of the game.?

As of yesterday lunchtime, Lloyd had not yet met with the two umpires from England ? David Shepherd and Mervyn Kitchen ? or officials from the clubs, though he is scheduled to do so over the course of the next 24 hours.

Lloyd last came to Bermuda as a player in 1971 to captain an International XI against a Bermuda side containing the likes of Sheridan and Eldon Raynor.

And he said he was glad to be back and looking forward to witnessing Bermuda?s most cherished sporting occasion.

?I remember well coming here to play in my salad days,? he said.

?I?ve heard a lot about Cup Match and what it means to the people of Bermuda and it is something I?m sure I will enjoy being involved with.?