wedding gift yesterday when he was crowned Camel Cup Match MVP at a luncheon hosted at the Porch Restaurant.

Steede, who is to marry fiance Shauntia tomorrow, was the expected choice following his 89 in the first innings and 35 in the second innings of the drawn match last week at Wellington Oval. He is only the second Somerset player since Anthony Amory in 1989 to win the award in the 14 years it has been in existence.

Steede thanked the sponsors, RJ Reynolds, and his family and team-mates for their support during his acceptance speech and later acknowledged that any one of about four or five players could have been chosen.

"I would like to thank my family and fiance for their support during this hectic time of cricket and preparation for marriage, and also the Somerset cricket team who supported me a lot. Hopefully next year instead of having my hands on the MVP award I can have my hands on the Cup Match trophy because I would sacrifice this for the Cup Match trophy anyday.'' Afterwards, Steede admitted there were other strong contenders like team-mates Jeff Richardson and colt Kevin Fubler as well as St. George's players Dexter Smith, Graham Fox and David Adams.

"It's quite an honour to win this award considering you have some of the best players playing in that match,'' said Steede. "Some of the other performances were outstanding, Graham Fox, Kevin Fubler, Wendell Smith for his milestone of 1,000 runs and `Chick' Adams who bowled admirably as well.'' Steede, 27, has passed 400 runs in Cup Match and could eventually be the next man pushing for 1,000 runs in the Classic, though his next personal goal would be to score a century, having falling short by just 11 after a brilliant piece of fielding by wicketkeeper Glenn Smith ran him out.

"I'm disappointed but I try not to dwell on situations like that,'' said Steede. "I'm upset for a little while but then I get over it and look forward to the task at hand.

"I just would like to win, I would be happy to get 30 or 40 runs if it helps the team to win.

"Right now I'm just focussing on the victory. If you work hard for the team the personal rewards will follow.'' Steede, Somerset's vice captain, admitted on reflection that an earlier declaration might have enabled them to get closer to victory as the target St.

George's set them in the time remaining was never going to be enough.

"We had discussed it that morning and the captain and I decided that we would declare at lunch. But looking back we could have declared earlier and given them a 40, 50 run lead and then try to bowl them out for a minimum score which would have allowed us more time to reach a total.

"It could have been 300, 350 but we had two hours plus 20 overs that would have been a good chance for us.'' Steede does not support calls for a third day to be added. He says he would prefer to see more time added to each day or limited overs to be introduced.

"A third day would be rough for the players,'' Steede said. "The best suggestion, I think, would be adding an extra hour to both days with a tea break.

"The ultimate suggestion would be 60 overs per day.'' The constant invasion of the pitch by spectators at a wicket fall or for a batsman scoring 50 runs means that time is being lost, something which is annoying when a team is trying to press for victory against time.

"It is annoying to us, even though they may be our fans,'' Steede admitted.

Steede, who has already scored more than 1,200 runs in all competitions this season, will be missing when Stars take on champions Bailey's Bay in the semi-final of the Knockout Cup on Sunday. He will also miss next weekend's final, should Stars advance.

"I think Stars have a very good chance of winning the knockout, but we must get past Bailey's Bay,'' he said. "Stars and Bay are ranked in the top two or three in Bermuda and getting over Bay would be a gerat psychological boost for Stars.'' The Stars-Bay match will be at Southampton Oval while the other semi-final between St. George's and Southampton Rangers was this week switched from Police field to nearby Devonshire Rec.

Five weeks of summer clinics will culminate with the finals and presentation today at St. John's field. The matches begin this morning at 9.30 with the finals starting this afternoon after the lunch break. Sports Minister Pam Gordon will be on hand for the prize presentation which will begin at about 3.30.