Heroic performances by brothers Dexter and Richard Basden could not prevent Willow Cuts from tumbling to a five-wicket defeat in their Premier Division match against Southampton at Somerset CC yesterday.

Dexter lashed out for 90 runs, while Richard scorched 45 and engaged in a 54-run fourth-wicket partnership, but still this was not enough as the visitors replied to the 183 posted by Cuts, with 184 for the loss of just five wickets.

Cuts owed their loss mostly to four ducks recorded in their innings as young paceman Gary Williams tore through their batting line-up, claiming five for 23 from little more than seven overs.

The only other batsman managing a reasonable score was new signee Gladwin Edness with 21.

Quinton Burch, Ryan Belboda, Clevie Wade and Lyndon Raynor each grabbed a wicket for Southampton.

Offsetting the exploits of the Basdens was Keith Wainwright, who led the way on account of a dashing 73, aided by Olin Jones (49) and Clevie Wade (29).

Wainwright slammed eight fours and three sixes on the way to his team-high total, engaging in stands of 97 and 42 with Jones and Wade.

Jones in particular was in a belligerent mood as all but 11 of his runs came from boundaries -- five fours and three sixes.

Wainwright eventually fell caught and bowled to Rodney Fubler, leaving Ricky Brangman (13 not out) and Michael Brangman (two not out) to knock off the winning runs.

Vance Gilbert and Vivian Simons each notched two wickets for Cuts.

Cleveland 122 St. George's 124-7 Number nine bat Kenny Phillips hit an unbeaten 25 in an unbroken 30-run stand with Troy Hall to lead St. George's to a face-saving win over Cleveland at Sea Breeze Oval.

Phillips and Co. perhaps did not figure on the match getting so close after a fine display of out cricket. But Cleveland, spurred on by a three-wicket haul for one in mid-innings, kept the pressure on until the end.

Phillips struck three sixes in his knock, two off spinner Del Holls and the clincher off paceman Diallo Sharrieff, who threatened to win it for the home side.

But before he ever got going, Phillips had to survive a disaster of running between the wicket as he and Hall were left stranded in the middle. A poor throw to Hollis at the bowler's end spelled fortune for St. George's and the pair scampered through for two.

St. George's were placed in such dire straits after losing openers Dexter Smith (one) and Eugene Foggo (12) with only 18 on the board.

Clay Smith and skipper Graham Fox righted the ship in a 45-run third-wicket stand before Cleveland struck again.

Smith top-edged an attempted sweep against leg-spinner Johnny Richardson and was caught on the square-leg boundary for 23. Fox was out the next over, caught brilliantly at first slip by Grant Smith, slashing at Hollis, for 19.

Cleveland were in their glory when a rank Richardson long hop saw new batsman Ricky Hodsoll (nought) mishit a pull straight to Carlton Smith at short mid-wicket and leave the score 64 for five.

Anthony Trott and Lewis Foggo settled things in adding 27 runs for the sixth wicket, but they departed within one run of each other to renew Cleveland's hope.

But Phillips and Hall (three not out) carried the east-enders through.

Earlier, Phillips claimed three for 31 and Hodsoll four for 26 as the pick of the St. George's bowlers.

Opening bat Curtis Jackson top-scored for Cleveland with a dashing 41, which included two sixes and three fours.

But their demise started when Clay Smith ran out in-touch Grant Smith for 11 with a direct hit to the bowler's end when the score was 20. Wickets then fell regularly around Jackson until he was fifth out at 59.

Youngsters Carlton Smith (14) and Jason Simons (11) added 33 for the sixth wicket before three more quick wickets fell.

Richardson weighed in with a valuable 20 at the end of the innings, which helped make Cleveland more competitive later.

Social Club 71 Police 72-0 Police started the new cricket season in a flurry yesterday, as they made short work of Social Club at St. John's field.

The officers encountered little resistance from the Social Club batsmen, while finding the bowling much to their liking in rolling to an emphatic 10-wicket win.

Tyrone Smith was the chief destroyer with both bat and ball. First he led the way taking four for 14 from 10 overs of right-arm medium-pace and then returned to top-score with 36 not out.

Smith lashed four fours and a six in a whirlwind innings lasting just 40 minutes. He was aided by opening partner Dennis Archer (31), who treated a meek Social Club attack with equal disdain, slamming two huge sixes and one four as they raced to 72 from 10.1 overs.

Archer benefitted from two missed catches, one off the bowling of Roddy Thompson and the other when Desmond Smith misjudged a skied drive off Cecil Tucker.

After losing the toss and being sent in to bat the home side suffered through a ghastly display, which had no one able to reach double figures and most runs coming from extras -- 23, including 12 wides - for their total of 71.

Ben Alexander (seven) and Thomas Brangman (five) combined for 18 for the first wicket, but after that wickets tumbled rapidly as the batsmen failed to cope with the medium-pace attack used by the visitors.

Skipper Webster Mills top-scored with a measly nine runs as his men were skittled out in 34.1 overs.

In addition to Smith, Roger Blades seized two wickets at a cost of 13 runs while Freston Hurdle and Henderson Hoyte took one for 18 and one for 20 respectively.

Somerset Bridge 119 Devonshire Rec. 120-3 Devonshire Rec. gave Albert Steede his first victory as captain when they cruised to a comfortable seven-wicket triumph over Somerset Bridge at Devonshire Rec. field.

Steede did not have a particularly good match personally, scoring just four runs before falling leg before to Gary Crofton.

However, his services were not at a premium, with Roger Trott exhibiting fine early-season form in lashing an unbeaten 65.

Trott was particularly severe on anything pitched short, as he hooked four sixes, including consecutive blasts off Bridge spinner Sidney Simmons, whose five overs cost 37 runs.

After dismissing Bridge for a paltry 119, Trott and Terry Fray (31) set about their task in a workmanlike fashion, racing to 50 in even time. And when Fray was out caught behind, edging a ball from Gary Crofton, the die had already been cast.

Trott combined with Steede, new boy Jason Lewis (six) and finally Anthony Amory to eclipse their opponents' conservative total.

In the bowling department, Crofton claimed two for 26 and Kirt Trott one for 15 for Bridge.

Alfred Carter (45) was a bright spot during the Bridge innings, just missing out on a half-century.

He watched two partners go early before finding a willing ally in Trott (28) and the pair notched 63 runs for the third wicket, before Trott was rapped on the pad by an Amory delivery and umpire Dennis Raynor raised the finger, signalling his dismissal.

No one else managed to reach double figures, but there was a humorous moment near the end of the innings when tail-ender Kenneth Simmons protested a decision, giving him out bowled by Anthony Edwards. He claimed that the wind had dislodged the bail.

Edwards managed three for 12 for Devonshire and Amory four for 33, with Mark Trott collecting one for 27.

PHC 50 Flatts 52-0 The message was made clear to new boys PHC that the Premier Division is a lot more competitive than the Commercial Division after this easy 10-wicket win for Flatts at White Hill field yesterday.

Despite losing their first wicket with just five runs on the board, PHC had a good recovery before losing their second wicket on 31 after Dennis Bell and Sheridan Ming had added 26.

But when Bell fell victim to Maxwell Lawrence during a double wicket maiden in his second over, Flatts' batsmen fell like dominoes with the next three wickets going down for three runs and then the next four falling on 48 as Julian Steede and Lawrence ripped through the home team's batting.

No other PHC batsman reached double fugures as Steede claimed five for 21 off 9.3 overs and Lawrence, with maidens in his first four overs, finishing with four for seven from eight overs.

PHC's bowlers will have to wait until next week for their first success after Andrew Richardson and Kent Todd scored the necessary runs in 15.2 overs to give Flatts a season-opening win. Richardson dominated the stand with 40 while Todd finished on nine not out.