LAST weekend's 'no-result' matches in the Premier Division can work in the favour of defending champions St. David's...provided they can beat leaders Western Stars in Sunday's top match.

While six of the teams had their matches hit by rain, thus gaining just a point for the no-result, St. David's still have to play their match against Cleveland which was postponed last weekend because of Indian Reservation festivities at their ground. That match will now be played on September 14, by which time St. David's will know if they are in the running for a second straight title.

For that to happen, they cannot afford to look that far ahead, however, as the match that could have a strong bearing on the club's league aspirations is ahead of them this weekend when they welcome the unbeaten Stars to Lord's.

Stars looked like having their work cut for them against Southampton Rangers last weekend when Rangers posted 205-6 when the rain came and prevented any further play. Now the onus will be on St. David's to pull back Stars who are threatening to run away with the title.

Presently it is a three-team race, with Rangers and St. David's chasing the leaders while neither St. George's nor Bailey's Bay in the mid-table look serious title contenders.

St. David's are expected to have Lionel Cann back in their team for the first time this season. Cann has been recovering from injury and has used the Commercial League to play himself back to match fitness. He said recently he was looking forward to returning to the team, possibly for the Stars match. Certainly his experience with both the bat and ball will boost the home team in both departments.

Stars have done well to set the pace with captain Albert Steede leading from the front with the bat while the spin attack of Hasan Durham, Arnold Manders and Dwayne Leverock have backed up the seam attack of Saleem Mukudem and Wilbur Burt.

This round of matches represent the halfway stage of the league season and a victory for Stars would put them in a commanding position. Their corresponding match with St. David's on August 25 would have been an ideal title decider, but the league may just be settled by then, though St. David's still have that match in hand three weeks later.

The Islanders have had just the one hiccup - the loss to Rangers - and are now starting to come into form following good wins over St. George's, Bailey's Bay and Flatts in their last three outings. Cann's return is timely, though one of the youngsters may have to be sacrificed to fit him into the team.

Somerset will travel to Wellington Oval hoping to capitalize on the bad run by St. George's which has seen them lose three straight. Victory for Somerset would strengthen their mid-table position and put some distance between themselves and the bottom teams, Cleveland and Flatts, who cannot expect any favours from Southampton Rangers and Bailey's Bay in the other two matches.

Somerset would have felt hard done by after being 185-4 against Bay last weekend when the skies opened up. They still had 12.3 overs remaining in their innings so they were on their way to a big total.

Bay will be the away team against Flatts at Sea Breeze Oval while Cleveland host Rangers at Wellington Oval, the scene of Rangers' disappointing loss to St. George's.

The three matches in the First Division will see Warwick hosting Police at Southampton Oval, Somerset Bridge taking on PHC at White Hill and Social Club at home to Devonshire Rec. at St. John's

Police also face a tough outing on Saturday when they travel to St. John's Field for the final of the Central Counties against holders and strong favourites Western Stars. After a good start to the season which included victories over Cleveland and Somerset in the Combined Knockout Cup, Police have been faltering lately and are facing the possibility of losing out to Willow Cuts and Warwick in the promotion race. Their season hinges on this weekend's two matches.