St David's aim to continue streak
Unbeaten and without equal St David’s return to Lords tomorrow looking to continue their 100 percent start to their Premier Division season.The Islanders have crushed every side they have come up against so far and, on paper at least, the outcome of this weekend’s fixture against Willow Cuts should be little different.Cuts started strongly but back-to-back defeats at the hands of St George’s and Southampton Rangers in two games they might have reasonably expected to win, have slowed their momentum.Defeat to Rangers last weekend was especially galling, considering they had done the hard work in bowling the Southampton side out for just 165. Cuts, though, collapsed to 102 all out, more evidence that their line-up is not as strong as it might first appear.Take away Malachi Jones, George O’Brien and Chris Douglas, and the rest of the team have little to scare the likes of St David’s, but it is their very presence that will give the league leaders cause for concern.Jones and O’Brien are back to leading Bermuda again on the international stage, while Douglas has also returned to the squad for the ICC Americas Division One tournament in Florida next month.Tomorrow’s game is about so much more than just the Premier Division, however. As thoughts turn to Cup Match, the game at Lords will see several players who are expected to take part in the annual classic come up against each other.A home side packed with potential, St George’s players including the likes of Delyone Borden, Lionel Cann, Justin Pitcher, OJ Pitcher and a host of others, will face off against the likes of Jones and Douglas from Somerset.O’Brien, meanwhile, will be able to make a statement of his intent against the best batting line-up on the Island well before the St George’s trial matches begin.Although this is undoubtedly the game of the weekend, there are also several other matches taking place.Social Club are due to take on Rangers at Wellington Oval, but with Rodney Trott’s side in turmoil there is no guarantee that they will be able to raise a team.Social Club are also scheduled to face Warwick in one of three Twenty20 matches penciled in for Sunday but again their presence is by no means certain.In the other games, a double-header at Devonshire Rec, Cuts will take on Somerset Bridge and Devonshire Rec will tangle with Rangers.Somerset Cricket Club, meanwhile, will be holding an inaugural Pre-Cup Match Twenty20 festival on Sunday.St George’s and Somerset will square off in a day/night match at 6 pm, with Under-8, Under-11 and Under-14 teams also playing throughout the day, with the first game involving the Under-8s due to start at 11 am.