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There are three games on Saturday this week to kick off the weekend.

Eastern Counties

St. David's v Bailey's Bay

Saturday at Sea Breeze

St. David's will start their defence of the Cup and they certainly can't expect any favours from Bay.

St. David's will have to win this match without three of their best players as Delyone Borden, George O'Brien and OJ Pitcher won't arrive back in Bermuda from national team duty in Antigua until late Saturday.

To put their loss to the squad in perspective, those three are all in the top 10 in batting for the 50 overs league.

Allen Richardson is the only other player they have in the top 10 so the team will have to count on Kameron Fox and Arthur Pitcher Jnr to help carry it. Chris Foggo could be an asset but he's had a very disappointing season with a 19.33 average after six innings.

But does Bay have enough quality batsmen to defeat St. David's? Tywaun Burgess has been their best so far, but his average is less than 30 so they'll need more than that from whomever delivers their big innings on Saturday.

As mentioned last week, Bay has relied on their bowlers to do the damage and they'll be key here if the club is going to wrest the Cup away from their Eastern rivals.

Premier Division

Warwick v Western Stars

Sunday at Southampton

Warwick are just two points behind Stars and have two games in hand.

This match could help determine which of these two clubs gets relegated. They are currently sandwiching sixth place Somerset in the standings.

No club has been hurt more by the loss of players to the national squad than Stars.

They again will be without the services of frontline bowlers Saleem Mukuddem and Hasan Durham.

That leaves Dennico Hollis and Don Vickers as their top arms and Treaddie Gibbons will again have to step it up.

David Ferreira is back from England for Warwick and he played briefly for them last week in the rain-interrupted matches. They are missing Chris Douglas who is away with the Under-19s. If Clarke Trott doesn't have work commitments on Saturday) Warwick could field a squad decent enough to win this match.

Social Club v St. David's

Sunday at St. John's

Social Club should face a full strength St. David's (regardless on whether or not Bermuda wins on Saturday, the national team will return before their next match in the Stanford 20-20.

Dennis Zuill (22) and Jaymo Durham (21) were among the few batting bright spots for social Club in its massive loss to Rec last Saturday. Charlie Marshall did okay with the ball taking one for 29 in his 10 overs, but his 14 runs as a batsman was below his usual high standard. You can expect for him to rebound here.

Somerset v Bailey's Bay

Sunday at Somerset

Tony Cheesman and Shane Hollis won't have to bringing their best game to contain Bay's batsmen, but Azeem Pitcher, Dwight Basden and company will have supply enough runs for the west enders to win.

Flatts v Southampton

Sunday at St. David's

Southampton should have way too much talent to falter at this hurdle in their quest for the league title. Having Janeiro Tucker and Lionel Cann back from Antigua will just add to Flatts misery.

First Division

Police v PHC

Saturday at Police Field

Rain will likely cut this match short as showers are expected in the morning and likely to make playing conditions a bit tricky. Other than that, these clubs have only won four of 15 matches between them in the 50 overs league so you'd be better off enjoying the Eastern Counties game.

St. George's v PHC

Sunday at Wellington Oval

St. George's should be able to handle PHC.

Oronde Bascome will still be away with the Under-19s, but there is a lot of talent on the squad.

Troy Hall is getting older, but like a fine wine he's getting better. He's averaging 77 runs so far this year and surpass the 400 runs in this match.

Leg Trappers v

Cleveland County

Sunday at Sea Breeze Oval

Another mismatch as Cleveland, First Division co-leaders, should handle Leg Trappers.

Former national team opener Graham Strange is having a fine season, but he'll need to put up a heroic effort in order for Leg Trappers to have a chance here.

Somerset Bridge v Devonshire Rec.

Sunday at White Hill Field

Derrick Brangman is coming into his own for Rec. The youngster smashed a 63 against Social Club in the Central Counties. Brangman wasn't alone in demolishing Social Club - Ricky Brangman Snr (35), Allen Butterfield (32) and Wendell Swan (37) all helped Devonshire retain the title.

Bridge has simply been the worst team in Bermuda cricket this year. Don't expect much of a match, and do expect Rec to garner maximum points if the rain holds off.

Police v Willow Cuts

Sunday at Police

After several Willow Cuts players had to deal with the police in Toronto in that nightclub killing, they'll find this group of officers much easier to handle.

Reggie Tucker and Dexter Basden have been two of the best players in the First Division this year and they should lead Cuts to a triumph here.[[In-content Ad]]

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