recently that form is temporary, class is forever.

Well, looking at the averages of the players vying for positions in the annual classic next week, form in some cases has been consistent -- good and bad.

While cup-holders St. George's are considered to have the bigger selection headaches over how to replace captain Wendell Smith and fast bowler Dale Fox, Somerset have problems they did not anticipate -- lack of form. Olin Jones' recent knocks of 50 against Somerset and 151 not out against Bailey's Bay have signalled a return to form, but precious few of his team-mates can say the same. And the list for Somerset's selectors has to be worrying.

Dexter Basden, Richard Basden, Jeff Richardson and Ricky Hill have hit rock bottom in the runs column. And though he is averaging just over 30, Andre Manders is in the midst of a dry spell.

Dexter Basden, the Willow Cuts captain, made 90 in his first match and has just over 100 in total since. Brother Richard is still waiting for his first half-century and has a mere 122 runs overall.

Like Western Stars, Richardson came out of the chute firing with two half-centuries in his first four innings. But all he has to show for his last 10 knocks is a top score of 25.

Hill's slump has been season-long. The average is a woeful 14.91 and that is with the help of a half-century against the West Indies Board Select, which was considered a Cup Match trial. It was thought that that performance would be the turning point, but Hill is still struggling.

Manders does not appear to be in as bad a predicament as the previous four, though he cannot be happy with two ducks in his last three innings. He is second amongst Somerset triallists with 397 runs and in his case bad form is temporary.

Albert Steede had an unhappy start to the season but the West Indies tour helped ignite him and he is now back to whacking the ball about. The Devonshire Rec. and Bermuda skipper has scored 404 runs at an average of 36.73.

At one time talk was rife that Somerset might take two or three spinners to Wellington Oval, but when the final trial teams were picked only one contender, Wayne Richardson, was chosen. James Swan is the other spinner involved but he has not been given consideration in previous seasons when he has been much better than his current 15 wickets for 263 runs (17.53 average).

Richardson, with 26, has more wickets than any other Somerset bowler and is an automatic choice to paly.

Fast bowling is a problem with the banishment of Anthony Edwards and the inability of Rodney Fubler, the most consistent league bowler the past five seasons, to make an impression in Cup Match.

Terry Burgess (14 wickets, 21.43 average) is not having a good season by any stretch of the imagination while skipper Perry Maybury has only shown recent signs of coming to form. Allan Brangman is the only fast bowler other than Burgess who has the ability to unsettle with his pace.

Somerset's club player in with a chance is young Davon Wade who has an impressive average (31.00) while Roger Hunt's advanced years may make him the darkest of dark horses and Charles Swan is a slower version of Fubler.

St. George's possess the game's top two players now in and Clay Smith and Lionel Cann, the most automatic colt since 1902.

Whether Cann replaces a veteran incumbent or is a straight swap for Dale Fox remains to be seen, but he will play.

Of the senior players, only Noel Gibbons in recent weeks has dug in to secure his spot with determined batting.

But Arnold Manders and Clevie Wade remain mired in slumps. Manders, like club-mate Jeff Richardson had two early half-centuries but June and July have not been kind. He has failed to reach double digits in his last four outings.

Wade's only half-century was in mid-season against Warwick but has otherwise only shown flashes of the "class is permanent'' that Blades speaks about.

Bowling for both has well exceeded the bat with Manders sporting the best average in the land while Wade has come on with nine wickets in his last three matches.

Generally, the St. George's batsmen have outscored their Somerset counterparts and the same can be said for the bowlers.

Members are backing club players to form a nucleus of the team with Eugene Foggo, Ricky Hodsoll and Dexter Smith challenging to join skipper Graham Fox, Clay Smith and David Adams.

Foggo has struggled with the bat but has done the job in the bowling department. Hodsoll's season has been highlighted by a century against Somerset while opening bat Smith, who has been criticised for not scoring runs, is one of only five triallists this weekend to have passed 400.

The fast bowling looks like being anchored by Kenny Phillips with Gibbons as his new ball partner, followed by Cann, Wade if he can hang on and an assortment of spinners.

HOW THEY STACK UP . . . ST. GEORGE'S BATTING I NO R HS 100 50 Avg Lionel Cann 12 2 488 127 1 2 48.80 Clay Smith 13 2 520 100 1 3 47.27 Noel Gibbons 12 5 308 60 0 3 44.00 Charlie Marshall 13 2 455 171* 1 2 41.36 Cleon Scotland 10 2 291 68 0 3 36.38 Ricky Hodsoll 10 3 248 111* 1 0 35.43 Dexter Smith 13 1 402 111* 1 3 33.50 Glenn Smith 14 2 374 78 0 3 31.17 Gregory Sampson 15 2 398 63 0 2 30.62 Graham Fox 11 1 235 50 0 1 23.50 Arnold Manders 15 2 302 60* 0 2 23.23 Clevie Wade 11 2 171 51 0 1 19.78 Dean Minors 5 1 78 33* 0 0 19.50 Eugene Foggo 13 3 142 33* 0 0 14.20 Lewis Foggo 8 1 72 20 0 0 10.29 Troy Hall 8 3 40 14* 0 0 8.00 BOWLING O M R W BB Avg Arnold Manders 143.0 46 303 32 7-12 9.47 Eugene Foggo 96.5 13 320 24 4-27 13.33 Clay Smith 53.5 7 178 12 3-24 14.83 Kenny Phillips 102.4 5 421 28 6-24 15.04 Noel Gibbons 98.5 12 328 21 3-12 15.62 David Adams 80.1 12 245 14 3-12 17.50 Lionel Cann 101.5 16 398 22 6-9 18.09 Clevie Wade 110.5 21 359 17 3-13 21.12 Gary Brangman 104.1 24 315 14 3-27 22.50 Herbie Bascome 100.0 10 416 17 4-20 24.47 Ricky Hodsoll 77.0 3 344 14 4-26 24.57 Greg Foggo 63.1 5 294 11 3-23 26.73 SOMERSET BATTING I NO R HS 100 50 Avg Olin Jones 12 2 390 151* 1 1 39.00 Roger Hunt 9 1 309 121 1 2 38.63 Albert Steede 13 2 404 103* 1 2 36.73 Davon Wade 10 1 279 126 1 0 31.00 Andre Manders 16 3 397 111* 1 1 30.54 Perry Maybury 10 1 257 139 1 0 28.56 Anthony Manders 9 3 157 41 0 0 26.17 Janeiro Tucker 5 1 95 50* 0 1 23.75 Ferdinand Thorne 9 0 211 55 0 1 23.44 Dexter Basden 9 0 201 90 0 1 22.33 Jeff Richardson 15 0 301 53 0 2 20.07 Richard Basden 8 1 122 45 0 0 17.43 Ricky Hill 11 0 164 52 0 1 14.91 Curtis Jackson 6 0 70 41 0 0 11.67 Cordell Gilbert 12 1 87 19 0 0 7.91 BOWLING O M R W BB Avg Rodney Fubler 100.5 21 286 21 7-6 13.62 Mark Trott 71.4 8 237 17 3-15 13.94 Wayne Richardson 129.5 25 403 26 4-27 15.50 Janeiro Tucker 40.0 3 169 10 4-56 16.90 James Swan 56.2 5 263 15 3-34 17.53 Charles Swan 90.4 11 358 20 7-19 17.90 Richard Basden 69.0 15 180 10 3-14 18.00 Perry Maybury 68.5 8 292 15 5-40 19.47 Allan Brangman 105.2 16 410 21 4-19 19.52 Terry Burgess 78.4 10 300 14 4-23 21.43 Olin Jones 59.0 10 209 5 2-36 41.80.