January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
Rangers will try for Cup three-peat
St. David's has the right attitude
Lionel Cann believes his St David's team are on the right track as they target BELCO Cup glory this weekend.
And he said the tournament had an extra significance this season as the only knockout trophy in the schedule.
"It's an important trophy simply because we don't have a knockout trophy this season. This is the only cup competition to play for and everybody wants to win it.
"We are the best four teams in Bermuda right now. Every team has an equal opportunity, we are all on an even keel."
He said St Davids had recovered from their early loss against Social Club - a defeat they will be looking to avenge in Saturday's semi-final.
"I'm not worried about the first game. We lost the toss on a wet wicket. If we'd won the toss it would have gone the other way. The last couple of weeks we've put together better performances."
Cann, who smashed 87 against St Georges two weekends ago, said he felt in good form and was looking forward to an entertaining weekend of cricket.
"It's not just about me. We're trying to build the right attitude with the youngsters and I think they are buying into the programme.
"With myself, and our manager Eddie Lambe. we have a strong discipline in the team and the players have developed a good work ethic. We have a squad of 15 for the weekend and we'll see how it goes."
He said the likes of Arthur Pitcher, Chris Foggo, Marquel Crockwell and George O'Brien were creating healthy competition for places.
Outside of St. David's, Cann believes Social Club are looking strong and predicted that Rangers would have some of their senior players like Olin Jones and Dwayne 'Sluggo' Leverock back for the BELCO competition.
"Dean Minors has got Flatts playing well too. Whichever of the four teams wins, it won't be a shock. Last year no-one was supposed to beat Rangers but this year it's much more even."
Tucker: We are rebuilding
Janeiro Tucker admits Southampton Rangers are going through a rebuilding phase as they attempt to defend their BELCO Cup title this weekend.
He said last year's treble winners were missing 'half a team' from last season and were blooding youngsters as they attempted to build a new dynasty.
"Keith (Wainwright) doesn't come out any more, Olin's not training, Dwayne (Leverock) is out, Malachi's been with the under-19s. That's a lot of players we're missing."
Jones has not been named in the under-19 squad this weekend and is expected to be available while his father Olin, last season's top wicket-taker for Rangers, has also indicated that he could come out of retirement for the BELCO Cup.
"We'll see who is available at training tonight (Thursday) and go from there. We've still got guys that enjoy cricket, we've still got some good players.
"It's cool. Whatever the outcome is that's what it will be. We always go out to win, but we are in a rebuilding phase right now.
"I'm trying to get guys to understand how to better themselves in cricket. The guys are willing to learn, they come to training they are putting in the effort.
"I've got my cousin Kwame helping me and we are trying to get the guys to understand what it takes to get to the next level. Once they understand that - job done." He said he was not concerned that Flatts had already beaten his side this season. "The other game doesn't mean anything. They played well on the day. Saturday is a different game."
Edness: Flatts are underdogs
Flatts skipper Raji Edness accepts his side will be viewed as the underdogs this weekend.
But insists they will go into their first BELCO Cup buoyed by their good start to the season and believing they can win.
"We are always going to be underdogs because we are Flatts. We are used to it. We don't take much notice of that and just try and play good cricket.
"We have some exceptional batting with James (Celestine) having some good knocks and the squad is all pulling together and helping each other."
He said young spinner Regino Smith and vice-captain Nelson Bascome jnr were the players in form with the ball.
Having former national team wicketkeeper Dean Minors on board as coach had helped a lot.
"Dean's really helped improve the mental part of our game. With the experience that he has, he has really helped get the message across to the guys."
He said Flatts could take confidence from having already beaten Rangers once this season ahead of their semi-final on Saturday.
"We know that they are going to be out for revenge but our thing is to use this as a platform and better our game as a whole.
"We are excited to be in the BELCO Cup and we hope to give a good showing."
We're looking for cleansweep of all trophies
Pace bowler Kevin Hurdle has been enjoying teaming back up with Social Club after missing virtually all of last season playing club cricket in England.
The seamer said he had been impressed with the strides the side had made going from 'so-called whipping boys to contenders'.
And he said they were now targeting a clean sweep of domestic honours, starting with the BELCO Cup.
"People are aware of Social Club now. We are tryng to win everything and I think we have the range of players to do it.
"It's good to see how the players games have gone up another level while I was away.
"They've really taken it into their own hands. It was really good for them last year. Without me bowling they were still able to come second in the league.
"We really didn't have any brand name bowlers but we were still successful."
He said the team no longer relied on him as much with the ball and the wickets were more likely to be shared out evenly - making it less likely for him to pick up a five-wicket haul and the BELCO charity award.
"I read something about that, but it's not up to me. It doesn't matter if I take five wickets in a game or if I pick up two and a couple of other guys pick up two or three, "Individual glory is not important in a team game."[[In-content Ad]]
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