Friendly rivalry between branches of the Bank of Bermuda's personal services division who compete to produce the best Cup Match dcor has ended in a second victory for the St. George's branch.

With a trophy and $1,000 cash prize at stake, staff went all out to ensure a successful defence of their title.

Anyone walking into the HSBC banking facility on the Town Square could be forgiven for thinking they were already at Cup Match, thanks to the imaginative and all-encompassing theme which includes everything from T-shirts, to two-toned flags and umbrellas of the east-west clubs, straw hats, team caps, bunting, posters with 4s and 6s on them, and more.

A side room is decked out as a camp site, complete with tent, sleeping bag, umbrella, picnic gear, children's chairs and even an all-important radio playing calypso music.

Large, collated displays of photographs, newspaper cuttings, historical facts and other memorabilia, largely borrowed from the archives of Warren (Soup) Zuill, provides a fascinating and informative trip down memory lane to the Cup Matches of yesteryear.

Taking absolute pride of place, however, is the Cup, its handles sporting ribbons in the dual colours of each team.

The valuable sterling silver trophy, made in England over a century ago and generally never seen close up by the public, features an embossed cricket scene featuring a newly-bowled batsmen, stumps in array, a crouching wicket keeper and fielder, as well as a pavilion, flag staff and fluttering flag. The other side simply says: 'Somerset vs St. George's Cricket Club 1902.'

Its two-tiered Bermuda cedar base features silver bands on which the annual winner or draw is engraved.

"There's plenty of room for more," Bank security officer Randall King says.

Normally, the much-prized trophy makes but one brief appearance annually at the presentation ceremony when stumps are finally drawn at the close of Cup Match. It then goes back into secure storage, while the winning team gets to keep a representative trophy.

When St. George's is the winner, as it was last year, the trophy is kept in the Bank's Town Square vault, but this year by special permission of St. George's Cricket Club, it has made a rare public appearance in a special glass case as part of the winning display.

Meanwhile, Mr. King says the Bank staff are "ecstatic" over their latest win, and are eagerly looking forward to enjoying their cash prize.