Question: What do Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes, and Janeiro Tucker and Lionel Cann have in common?

Answer: A knack for bringing the best out of each other.

With the 2005 cricket season barely a month old, Tucker and Cann have grabbed headlines after producing some consistently big knocks for Southampton Rangers.

Rangers skipper Tucker, who leads all national team bowlers with 15 wickets, has recorded three half-centuries while Cann has taken ten wickets and posted scores of 91, 77, 128 and 61 not out.

Cann has been particularly harsh upon his former team-mates at St.David?s, scoring 266 runs off the Islanders attack in three appearances out in the middle.

But it?s the player?s lethal partnership with Tucker that now has people sitting up and taking notice.

During the recent Belco Cup final at Lords, Tucker and Cann produced a fourth-wicket stand which yielded 142 runs. That feat was then followed up six days later with a 97-run stand for the eighth wicket during the club?s drawn Premier Division Two-Day clash at Southampton Oval.

And it is this type of form both players will be relied upon to deliver for Bermuda during next month?s all-important ICC Trophy Tournament in Ireland.

?We are both similar types of players who like to get on with it,? noted the in-form Cann. ?But as senior batsmen we both understand our responsibilities. We just go about picking out the bad balls and rotating the strike.?

The Rangers pair have also enjoyed good communication between the stumps.

?This is something we should have as senior players anyway,? added Cann. ?We talk a lot when we bat together and Janeiro always tells me ?nobody ever overtakes me when I am batting? . He?s not used to other batsmen coming to the crease after him and crossing him as far as scoring runs is concerned.

?We joke and have a laugh over it but at the same time we know this is a team effort. And the main thing is that we are both geared towards scoring big runs. We both understand the game and have the ability to go out there and build big innings.?

The name Tucker has always been synonymous with big scores.

The Rangers skipper rewrote the Cup Match history books in 2001 at Wellington Oval where he blasted a magnificent 186 to surpass Lloyd James? previous record (173) for the highest individual tally shortly after returning from the Island?s previous ICC Trophy commitment in Toronto.

The Somerset Cup Match skipper also scored a memorable century representing Bermuda at the 1997 ICC Trophy Tournament in Malaysia.

?I just love batting with Lionel. I think we communicate good when we bat together and it?s just a good experience batting with him,? noted Tucker.

?I think we have grown together as team-mates especially having been around him training for the national squad for the past several months. If one of us gets going then the other has to hold their end because it doesn?t make sense both of us going.?

And it is this sensible approach that continues to reap dividends for the entire Rangers team.

Assessing his individual performances so far, Tucker noted: ?I?m happy with the way things have gone for me so far. And hopefully by the time ICC comes along I will be in peak form.?

But first Tucker and Cann will be looking to extend their fine form against St.David?s in this Saturday?s crucial Premier Division Limited Overs encounter at Lords where Rangers will rest their unbeaten season record on the line.