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St. George's may carry an extra bat

Chris Foggo: Clay Smith is tipping the St. David's wicketkeeper-batsman to reclaim a spot in the St. George's team.

As the final selection for Cup Match places will be sorted tomorrow evening, St. George’s will have their hands full in selecting their team. As champions St. George’s has no shortage of players willing and able to fill the void left by Oronde, OJ and Damali.Looking at the possible replacements on the surface it looks straight forward, as the replacements needed are two batsmen and a bowler. However, playing at Somerset, the champions may be weary of the conditions and may opt to take an extra bat or an extra all-rounder for added protection. This is the headache that the new selection committee will be faced with.One batting spot looks certain to be filled by Treadwell Gibbons, who has had an outstanding season with the bat. This leaves one batting spot to be challenged by Glenn Blakeney, Chris Foggo, Christian Burgess and Onias Bascome. With two experienced players missing, Lionel and the selectors will most likely opt for a more seasoned player like Chris or Glenn. I believe that if Chris plays the final trial he would become almost an automatic choice as he carries the characteristics of both Lionel and OJ with his fierce competitiveness and always seems to come good at Cup Match, regardless of what form he is in and no matter what the pressure is in the game. When the team has needed someone to battle and bat long, no matter what the circumstance, he has put his head down and got the job done. Glen, in his right, is top quality as well. He is an explosive bat and the argument can certainly result in his favour, but the fact that he hasn’t played much as well as his aggressive style might work against him in the selection process. Having said that, I must say it wouldn’t surprise me if St. George’s selects Glen simply to deal with Malachi. Malachi is Somerset’s main threat and Glen has the ability to destroy him, thus nullifying Somerset’s main weapon.The bowling spot left by the absence of Damali Bell is probably the most sought after spot. The final trial will go a long way to decide who this spot goes to. George O’Brien has to be the favourite for the position as he is the league’s leading wicket-taker. Then there is Kyle Hodsoll who started the season off on fire, but has gone off the boil some as of late. Lateef Trott is another who with a big final trial could claim the last spot. Rudell Pitcher may just sneak in as he has taken quite a few wickets and as of late has been among the runs. Last, but not least, there is Ryan Steede, who has bowled extremely well for Bailey’s Bay all year and recently has steadily been producing runs. George O’Brien gets my pick over the rest of the bowlers simply because we want a victory. George O’Brien always gets wickets, plain and simple. Not many batsmen in Bermuda can handle his pace and swing. The only hiccup is whether he is fit enough, as Justin Pitcher has broken down regularly during recent Cup Matches, putting an added burden on Stefan Kelly.Here is the team I think the selectors should pick providing everyone plays the final trail and comes through it fit and healthy: Jason Anderson, Chris Foggo, Treadwell Gibbons, Fiqre Crockwell, Rodney Trott, Lionel Cann, Delyone Borden, Allan Douglas, Justin Pitcher, Stefan Kelly, George O’Brien.Best of luck to all of you in the final trial! As you know in St. George’s the final trial holds a lot of weight and can swing the pendulum in your favour.