"dead'' yet as they battle to get back in the midst of the Open League race.

"We are not going to kiss the league title goodbye yet, there are just too many matches left to play,'' said the skipper of the defending champions whose team have recently returned from a tour of England where they won four of five matches.

Amory is probably being overly optimistic because his team faces a real dilemma in a bid to retain the title. They are in sixth place with 87 points from nine games while Western Stars head the division with 123 points from 10 fixtures.

"There is still a way yet to go in the league, leaders Western Stars have four games remaining and anything can happen. On any given day somebody can knock them off, which will help us and the teams behind them a lot, so we just can't give up,'' said Amory.

"It's going to be tough and it's going to be a real uphill battle, but it's something that we are prepared to face.'' Devonshire are in an unusually low position at this stage as a result of two "bad'' losses according to the skipper, one at Somerset against Willow Cuts who were dismissed for a seemingly paltry 115. "We did well to get them out for that low score, but we just couldn't get the runs to win it,'' said Amory.

The other game he felt they let slip away was against Nationals who were dismissed for 160. "It was another bad batting performance by us, we just couldn't pass their score,'' he said.

Amory is banking on Western Stars to run into a similarly bad patch, but that appears to be wishful thinking because the leaders seem to be getting stronger and stronger as time goes by.

Winners of both the Camel Cup and league a year ago, Amory has led his team to the former again but his hopes of capturing the league are vanishing slowly.

"We haven't given up hope, we intend to stick in there and try to win everything left just in case Western Stars slip,'' said the Devonshire skipper.

Devonshire were in position to force Western Stars into one of the pitfalls on Sunday when they met at St. John's field, but Devonshire failed to take advantage of the game, which was drawn.

The tour of England is something that Amory feels will not only help his team during the crucial matches over the next few weeks but in the long term as well.

"I'm certain everybody gained experience from playing under the varying conditions out there, you certainly had to make adjustments batting on those slower wickets,'' he said.

A member of the Bermuda ICC Trophy team that played in Holland two years ago, Amory said that the conditions in England were even different to what he experienced in Holland where the wickets were harder because they play on a matting that is placed on a hard, dry surface.

During the tour of England, Albert Steede was Devonshire's top batsman with a total of 210 runs while opener Donald Norford trailed closely behind with 209.

Veteran Erskine (Choe) Smith was the top bowler with 11 wickets while Amory, James Pace and Mark Trott each took six.

Devonshire's last game was a thrilling three-run victory over Coventry and North-Warwickshire Select after scoring 242 for seven.

ANTHONY AMORY -- With leading run-getter Albert Steede, at left.