Pictures: Colin Zuill.

ON TARGET: Richard Basden in command at Sea Breeze Oval on Sunday.

UNDER PRESSURE: Bay opener Devrae Hollis faces up to Basden.

RICHARD BASDEN bowled Willow Cuts to an unlikely 18-run win over Bailey's Bay at Sea Breeze Oval on Sunday -- but says the credit belongs to the team and his brother and skipper Dexter in particular.

Richard's amazing 6-15 from 15.5 overs, including nine maidens, had Bay back in the pavilion for just 72 in reply to Cuts' 90 and deservedly wins the Shell id-Ocean News Cricketer of the Week Award. He edged out two other fine bowling performances, by Devonshire's Dwayne Leverock (7-21 v Somerset Bridge) and Gary Brangman's 6-27 off 25.1 overs for Western Stars against Southampton and two batting performances, Perry Maybury's face-saving 109 not out for Somerset against Warwick, and David Greenidge's 49 and 99 scores for Police over the weekend.

"A lot of the credit has to go to Dexter,'' insisted Richard of Cuts' recent revival that has seen them take maximum points from their last three games.

"He's done a fantastic job at using the players we have. People think we only have a couple of good players but that's not true. We beat Cleveland two weeks ago and people said it was a fluke. They said it was a fluke when we beat Somerset. Now we've beaten Bay so we must be doing something right!'' Richard admitted that when Cuts were all out for 90 in 36 overs, with only Dexter (35) making any runs, things looked grim.

"We usually have Bay in trouble and then Noel Gibbons hits them out of it but this time we were determined to fight to the end. We really had our hearts in this one.'' The turning point came after tea when Dexter brought on Richard as first change bowler and the right-hander's seamers soon had openers Richie Foggo and Devrae Hollis out for 4 and 9 respectively.

Said Basden: "After that we sensed we could do it. We'd had Bay under pressure before and they were struggling to get runs from the get go. They took that 90 as if it was 20 or 25 but we set the pace.'' Cal Dill (17) threatened for while before Basden had him caught behind and he had Gibbons trapped lbw for 4 and knocked back skipper Clarkie Trott's centre stump for 1 to dispose of Bay's big bats cheaply and Bay were 32-7.

"The conditions were good considering the weather,'' said Basden. "I was expecting the pitch to be wet and soggy but it wasn't. It played a little to the bowler's favour throughout the whole match. It was just a matter of bowling a good line and length and letting the batsmen make the mistakes.'' Ninth wicket pair Ricky Hodsoll and Quinn Outerbridge threatened to pull off an escape when they took the score to 62. Said Basden: "Last season when we were the only team to beat St. George's, I remember Ricky coming in and getting a quick 50 and he was starting to get going on Sunday. They were both on 10 and I thought, `Oh no, a partnership -- one of them has to go'.'' Joseph Matthews broke up the partnership when he had Outerbridge spectacularly caught by Andrew Rollins at square leg and then Basden had Hodsoll lbw to wrap up the win.

For Basden, who hit a valuable 30 in the win over Somerset last week, Sunday completed his rehabilitation from a painful hand injury that forced him to miss four games. "I bruised my right hand when I jammed it in training,'' he explained. "It's still sore but it's coming along pretty strong. I was so geared up for Sunday's game though, the injury didn't exist!''