ST. GEORGE'S captain Charlie Marshall has no regrets about the decisions he made in last week's Cup Match which Somerset won by four wickets to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the classic.

Marshall has a few reasons to want to extend his Cup Match career one more year . . . to get another chance to win back the cup, to finish on the ground where he started and to have a chance to reach 1,000 runs in Cup Match.

"That is an incentive for me to hang around for another year and finish up in St. George's," said the 41-year-old veteran of 20 Cup Match appearances.

The batting by St. George's on the first morning and Marshall's lunchtime declaration, probably the earliest first declaration in the history of Cup Match, set the tone for an exciting match, which Somerset captain Albert Steede acknowledged in his presentation speech.

However, had it not been for the two St. George's declarations and some bold batting by both teams, a result would have been difficult to achieve as Timmy Edwards' wicket offered little assistance to the seam bowlers in particular.

"No regrets whatsoever, I was impressed with our batting, especially on the first day," said Marshall who also praised his two spinners, colts Travis Smith and Peter Philpott.

"The people there were surprised that I declared after lunch, but I mentioned to the guys in our team meeting that we were either going to win or we were going to lose. It wasn't about any draws in this year's Cup Match.

"My aim, basically, is to get the people back out. Cup Match is a tradition and people should support Cup Match even though there are so many options today. Years ago there weren't many options, not too many people travelled or camped, but today everybody is travelling and camping."

Added Marshall: "To encourage people to come to Cup Match we have to entertain them, it's not about self or drawing. I'm always been an individual who takes risks. I said by lunchtime we would make a decision to either continue for another hour or come out. Our main goal was to bat 40 overs, but we only batted 36."

It was expected that most of the risks would be taken by St. George's as the challengers. Neither was it surprising that the wicket at Somerset did not give a great deal of assistance to the bowlers, which could have given the St. George's pace attack the edge. Marshall vowed St. George's will produce a bowler's wicket next year, knowing they have nothing to lose.

"It's just a matter of the team who doesn't have the cup being patient," the captain believes.

"There is going to come a time when we're going to win that cup back. Somerset have a good team up there right now and it's just a matter of us being patient.

"St. George's are grooming, trying to get a good team together and Somerset have a good team."

It is widely accepted in Cup Match, and the Eastern Counties too, that the challengers have their best chance of winning by keeping the game open, when the champions also have a chance to win. A much bigger total than the 234 St. George's scored in the first innings would probably have forced Somerset on the defensive.

The second St. George's declaration at 4.21 not only gave them a chance to bowl out Somerset, but put the champions in with a good chance of scoring the 218 for victory after they took a 48-run lead into the second innings.

"The reason why I declared on the first day was I felt that if we had scored 300 or 400 runs, Somerset's approach to the game would have been different, that they would have played for a draw," explained Marshall.

"With 230 to 240 runs, at least it would make them feel 'we can win too'. It was all about keeping them in the game by scoring a little bit of runs and hoping my bowling would bowl them out. The wicket was flat and I knew my bowlers would struggle.

"I was told there was a lot of grass on it in the final trial match and that's why the scores were so low, but they took a lot of grass off it."

Added Marshall: "We had the option of taking two spinners or four pace bowlers and I wanted two spinners. Last year we only had 'Chick' Adams and there was so much pressure on him. People were saying that the reason why Mackie Crane wasn't picked was because we went over to St. David's. It wasn't anything personal, I do like Mackie, he's a good bowler and I never held it against him that he went over to St. David's.

"It was my decision as captain that we take two spin bowlers, that was what I wanted and I asked the selectors to support me. It had nothing to do whatsoever with Mackie going over to St. David's. It was hard to drop Gary (Brangman) because he has done well for us all season and he has the experience.

"Mackie is a young individual who, if he stays focused and plays good cricket, will be in the team next year. He'll get his chance next year, it's just a matter of being patient."

It was a batsman's Cup Match with a total of 34 sixes hit over the two days, including Glenn Blakeney's on the first ball of the match. Janeiro Tucker hit six sixes over the two days, while Blakeney had five and Lionel Cann five. Cable and Wireless is donating $200 to the Bermuda Society for the Blind for every six hit. The charity will soon be $6,800 richer!

"The individuals who decided to catch a plane and go away, and the individuals who decided to camp missed a good Cup Match," Marshall assured.

"I hope this year's result will encourage people to stay home and come down to St. George's next year when there will be another exciting Cup Match.

"They definitely will have a result wicket down there next year."

Marshall explained that last year's wicket at Wellington Oval ended up with very little grass on it after a misunderstanding between the two groundsmen resulted in the wicket being cut too low, without head groundsman Mansfield Smith's knowledge.