THE stage was set for Cleveland to become Eastern Counties champions for the first time in 27 years last Saturday at St. David's . . . and even the neutrals were pulling for them.

Unfortunately, the Harris Bay boys left the ground empty handed yet again after failing to score a modest 150 to dethrone champions St. David's. Their loyal fans watched in disbelief as the batsmen put up little resistance against some tight and disciplined St. David's bowling.

What they needed most was not so much a couple of 50s but even a couple of 50-run partnerships. The 23-run last-wicket stand between top bat Carlton Smith and Tamauri Tucker was the biggest of the innings as the pair tried desperately to do the impossible and score 81 for the last wicket. The early damage had been down when St. David's had them reeling at 27-3 to 47-6 and then 69-9 before they were bowled out for just 92 in 35.3 overs.

Their fans couldn't believe it, including former players Allan Douglas and Grant Smith, the type of batsmen who, in their day, would have dug their heels in and repaired the early damage.

"Yeah, you had to go out and take charge and say 'okay, this game hinges on me'," said Smith, now the club's vice president and one of the coaches of the clubs's juniors.

"What I used to do sometimes was bat scared, scared to get out because you didn't know what the rest of the team was going to do. So you had to take charge and not say 'the next three guys coming behind me can win the game'. We have to get rid of that mentality."

Smith scored a century against St. David's in the Eastern Counties in the early 1990s so he knows the importance of batting for the team, even though Cleveland didn't win that match either.

Although the Cleveland bowlers did well to restrict St. David's to 149, Smith feels they should have been chasing an even smaller target.

"Overall they had an excellent game plan and picked a very good team, but there were a couple of key areas where I think the game went wrong," said Smith.

"The total could have been even less, once they realised how the pitch was playing. They didn't have guys 'under the helmet' (close to the bat) when the seamers were extracting uneven bounce, particularly to Chris Douglas. He's a bold batsman and they should have had someone there to pick up a couple of short catches under the helmet. Maybe some minor field placements, particularly for Chris Douglas who tends to sky the ball in the covers quite a bit. But overall Jason Simons captained the team pretty well."

Smith added: "The simple mistake with the batting was that not enough batsmen followed Aaron Adams and Carlton Smith's lead by just picking up three runs an over and then taking care of the bad balls. In Bermuda you are going to get at least two bad balls an over from any bowler."

Smith believes it was key for somebody to support Adams and then Carlton Smith who led the batting with 24 and 21 respectively. Tucker did his part in the tail-end with an unbeaten 11 in support of Smith but the damage was done by then.

"Whether you are batting first or chasing a total, cricket matches are actually won in partnerships," Smith believes.

"Individual totals are achieved by batting in partnerships and good team totals are achieved in partnerships, that was one key area that lacked. No one dug in and formed partnerships with Aaron or Carlton Smith.

"I stopped by the Cleveland pavilion when they were batting and heard coach Clay Smith telling the guys 'listen guys we need two key partnerships'. He repeated that to them quite a few times. That was the key with the batting."

Captain Jason and veteran Curtis Jackson, two players around so much depended in the batting, were guilty of getting out to bad shots as St. David's were allowed to tighten the grip.

"It was surprising how a few of the guys seemingly didn't stick to the plan and went for big shots when it wasn't necessary," said Smith. "You must have everybody on board on the same plan when you are chasing a target, whether a low score or a high score. If you don't stick with the plan you will never know if the plan would have worked."

Cleveland last won the cup in 1981 when they beat Flatts in the first round by three wickets, only to lose to St. David's in the second round by seven wickets. It was the first win in the counties for St. David's in eight years. Arthur Pitcher was the St. David's captain that day, now his two sons, Arthur Jr. and Justin are county players along with nephew OJ Pitcher.

Cleveland also won the cup in 1978 when they beat Bay and then beat Bay again in the second round of the 1980 series by a narrow 12-run margin when the champions Bay failed to reach a target of 156. Cleveland lost in the next round to Flatts as the cup changed hands three times that year.

Smith doesn't think it will be another long wait for a Cleveland victory in the competition.

"I think these guys under Clay Smith's coaching and Jason Simons' captaincy have a squad, plus two or three youngsters coming in, who have a lot to offer and I think they'll get another chance pretty soon." Smith believes.

"I don't see them waiting much longer, although this was a golden opportunity missed. Over the last couple of seasons with Clay there as coach and Jason as captain they have done some good things. There is a lot to look forward to, with just a few tweaks here and there with tactics.

"I'm coaching the youth team who have been on a good run in the Eastern Counties junior competition, this is the fourth year that they have held the trophy. The other coaches are Mario Thompson, McNeil McGowan, Troy Harvey and Lionel Tannock."

Allan Douglas, who like Grant Smith was a part of the last Cleveland team to win the counties, thought this was going to be their year, finally.

"I suppose you should give them credit for taking care of two-thirds of the game, bowling well enough and fielding fantastic enough to knock them down for 149," said Douglas.

"But the job wasn't finished for some reason. It's disappointing when you have a golden opportunity to sit down and bat. The wicket did do a bit, but was that an excuse? No. It seemed more like nerves than anything else. Nobody went out there and went after them and a few players could have done that.

"It is disappointing not to pull it off, especially when we had one of the best opportunities in years. They bowled well and fielded well but what let them down was the batting and it hasn't been letting them down all year. The occasion got to them."

Four down for 37 would have been the perfect stage for Allan Douglas to come to the crease and take control. The man who scored four successive 50s in the competition between 1986 and '89 would have welcomed the challenge.

"When I played you played for the community," said the former Cleveland captain.

"I remember one time batting at Bailey's Bay and tears were coming out of my eyes and Noel Gibbons, who was fielding on the bat said 'what you crying for?'

"I said 'Noel, if I don't win this match they are going to kill me down at Devil's Hole'. I literally took their threat to heart and that's how we played ¿ with passion. I question whether the passion was there in some of them. I know with the Aarons, the 'Plukes', the Jasons the passion was there but was it with the rest?

Douglas added: "When you are on the field and look around at your fans and haven't seen some of these people all year, but when you see them that one time you know they are there for you. The county thing wasn't in their hearts that day."

Douglas is confident Cleveland can make another challenge again next year. "You bet your boots," he insists.

"They can do it again next year and be better off for it. It was the greatest opportunity for the longest while and I would have bet anything we were going to win it. I gave St. David's Islanders hell but I had to eat my words again.

"I thought we had it. I was going to pad up just to put the fear in St. David's. And I felt it would have worked!"