St. George's began the defence of their Premier League crown with a draw against main rivals Western Stars at St. John's field yesterday.

However, the outcome could well have been a much more rewarding one for St.

George's even though they were guilty of batting too long and not giving their bowlers enough time to dismiss the opposition.

In the end the Stars were able to maintain their guard long enough to avoid the embarrassment of opening the 1994 campaign with a loss.

On what was a perfect day for cricket, St. George's won the toss and elected to bat on a grassy wicket aiding the bowlers, but offering little bounce which required the use of a straight bat.

Bermuda youth squad player Ryan Steede and Dexter Smith of ICC fame gave a reasonable start to the east enders' innings with a stand of 34 for the first wicket, before Steede became the first of seven to fall at the hands of Stars' stand-in skipper Arnold Manders. Steede was caught by Gary Brangman for a personal contribution of 12 runs.

Smith, who had cut short his Caribbean vacation to play in the game, was then joined by Clay Smith and the pair added 28 for the second wicket before Clay Smith became Manders' second victim, caught by Andre Manders for 12 with the score 62.

With the prize wicket of Clay Smith back in the pavilion, Stars could have been excused for feeling buoyant, but any high was erased as Dexter Smith and skipper Graham Fox set about on a path of destruction.

While Manders was able to contain the pair for the most part, all others were treated with disdain.

Dexter Smith began to open the blade and moved on to 54, with his half-century coming from a lofted drive to the long on boundary off a Treadwell Gibbons full toss.

But just as a big score seemed imminent for the opener, he was gone in somewhat controversial fashion. A ball from Manders, which appeared to be drifting well down the leg side, clipped the pads of Smith, but surprisingly umpire Mahdee Shabazz upheld Stars' appeal for an lbw and St. George's were 113 for six.

Ricky Hodsoll (five) and Clevie Wade (nought) each had brief stays at the crease, prompting Fox to raise the tempo even further.

Fox lashed out against Gibbons for a four and a six from consecutive balls off Gibbons and then pounded Manders out of the ground in the very next over. In contrast, he reached his 50 with a soft push to mid-wicket that brought cheers from a sizeable crowd on hand to witness the day's top match.

Manders extracted a measure of revenge, bowling Fox between bat and pad for a top score of 55 from 75 balls, and then sending both Dean Minors (four) and Lewis Foggo (23) packing.

Still, the major fireworks were yet to come and they were stoked by the big bat of Kenny Phillip who blasted a quick-fire 52, which included six monstrous sixes and three fours to carry St. George's past the double century mark.

Manders finished with seven for 54 from a marathon spell of 30 overs while Hoyt Zuill, Richardson and Gibbons each claimed one wicket apiece.

Their turn to bat, Stars found themselves in almost immediate trouble against the pace attack of Phillip and Fox. After several unsure attempts at making strokes, Andre Manders (nought), trying to steer a ball through slips, offered a straight forward catch to Wade at gully.

New batsman, Gibbons (15), added some stability as he and Gregory Sampson (20) added 24 for the second wicket before the former flicked Wade's second delivery to a waiting Phillip at fine leg, who juggled the ball before eventually finding the handle.

Jeff Richardson managed 19 with four fours in a 35 minute stay before Clay Smith induced a return catch. Sampson followed two runs later to leave the Central Counties champions teetering at 60 for four.

Stars wisely voted against going for a seemingly unreachable total, electing to put the shutters up with Arnold Manders defending resolutely for 47 runs before he was adjudged lbw to David Adams.

Cleon Scotland (three) became Wade's second scalp, but Hassan Durham (seven not out) and Anthony Manders (six not out) saw through the final overs.

Wade ended as the most successful bowler for St. George's with two wickets for three runs from five over -- four were maidens. Adams took two for 19 and Fox and Clay Smith one each.

St. George's would claim a moral victory, but that rang hollow as they left firmly believing that more could have been accomplished.