Cann confident Islanders can continue four- year win streak
Lionel Cann is quietly confident that St. David's can continue their winning ways in the defence of their Eastern County title today when they take on challengers Flatts Victoria at See Breeze Oval.
Since regaining the cup in convincing fashion in 2005, the Islanders have yet to be put under serious pressure and this year seems to be going according to plan.
That was certainly the case in their first round match against Cleveland County last month.
In that encounter, Landro Minors blasted a maiden Eastern County century (128) in a record fifth-wicket stand with skipper Delyone Borden (74) that contributed 214 runs as they completed a comfortable 91-run victory.
With a full squad to pick from, Cann insists his side have what it takes to claim another win and move on in their defence, although they are also wary of the threat posed by their opponents.
"Obviously we are quietly confident, everyone is fit and ready to go," said Cann. "We have OJ coming back to strengthen the already deep batting line-up.
"Justin (Pitcher) is back after the last County game and Angelo (Cannonier) is also back off injury, so they are ready to go and fire on all cylinders.
"Delyone (Borden) and Del (Hollis) have been taking wickets on a regular basis this year, so we are pretty confident but at the same time we won't take them for granted.
"They play County hard and this is a cup that they haven't won in 29 years, so I expect them to come at us hard."
In last year's match between the two sides, the champions ran away with a comfortable eight-wicket victory thanks to a four-wicket haul from Borden and a half-century from Chris Foggo.
In yesterday's edition of The Royal Gazette, Flatts skipper Kijuan Franks stated that St. David's were marked men who were about to be knocked off their pedestal.
And those words will surely have crept into the Islanders dressing room to give them added incentive, if they haven't got enough already.
St. David's possess something that few teams in Bermuda contain ¿ players that have come through the ranks and have remained loyal to the club they call home.
They have at their disposal an arsenal of players who on their day can kill off any side on the Island.
With the entire squad for today's match, minus Angelo Cannonier, having played for Bermuda at one stage in their careers ¿ a record that is remarkable in its own right ¿ the stage is set for what could prove to be a one-sided contest.
The match will also be a final tune-up for current national team players Justin Pitcher, Chris Douglas and Fiqre Crockwell, with the trio set to take on Uganda in a four-day game starting Monday.
Cann believes that as long as his men follow the game ball by ball and make the right decisions throughout the match, they should come out on top.
"We have to do the basic things right. We have the experience to win big games," he said.
"If we bat first, make sure we get off to a solid start and build partnerships to bat them out of the game and if we bowl first, take early wickets to put them under pressure.
"One thing about our side, we know how to win and we have been champions for a while now so this could play to our advantage come the end of the day.
"We just have to play our game to our full potential.
"The team has been together forever, with most of the boys coming through the junior ranks playing together.
"This has been the nucleus this year, they know what makes each other tick and each player has their own beat.
"In the coming years they will be hard to beat as they are all good players.
"County is a big game and our national team players treat County as if they are playing for the country so it should be a good game."