CLAY Smith, whose century enabled champions St. David's to get past Bailey's Bay in the first round of the Eastern Counties last month, had made himself unavailable for Saturday's match with Cleveland.

But the decision has nothing to do with the fact that Smith's inclusion in the St. David's team in the last round caused dissension amongst some St. David's fans. Instead, it has everything to do with Smith's commitment to Cleveland as their player-coach.

Recognising a conflict of interest, the St. David's guest player opted out of the team even though Eastern Counties rules do not permit him to play for the challengers. "I'm not playing at all, I saw Eddie Lamb (St. David's cricket chairman) after the presentation on the second day of Cup Match and we had a nice talk and both agreed it was in my best interest not to play," said Smith this week.

"I knew if it came down to that situation that my first priority was to coach Cleveland. It is a conflict of interest and technically I am under contract with Cleveland and that's my priority."

Smith answered his critics with an unbeaten century as St. David's defeated Bay by three wickets in the last round. Now he is plotting Cleveland's first victory in the competition in 25 years. With captain Lionel Cann and bowlers George O'Brien and Arthur Pitcher on international duty, Smith realises St. David's could be vulnerable.

"I think this is probably the best chance we are going to have for quite some time, however, I still feel they (St. David's) are very strong in their batting," said Smith. "They still have OJ (Pitcher) and Chris (Foggo) who I feel are two of the best batsmen in Bermuda. We are targeting these two guys, mainly to get them early and put a lot of pressure on the rest of the guys to step up to the plate. Overall, in the last two weeks we have done a lot of work on our fielding because that has probably been the weakest part of our game this season."

Like St. David's, Cleveland also picked their team last night, with the likes of Aaron Adams, Carlton Smith and Jason Simons the key players in the batting department, while the Dennis Musson, Charles Richardson, Shakai Darrell and Barry Gibbons, alongwith guest player Hasan Durham, will carry the brunt of the bowling.

"We have a nice balanced attack and most of the time the atmosphere in St. David's is conducive to swing bowling so hopefully that will benefit us," said Smith. "If we get a nice cross-breeze that will help us tremendously."

The county fever is gripping both communities and the long wait for a victory has left Cleveland even more determined to pull off an upset and dedicate it to former player Cory Lowe who died last week.

"We've been going four days a week for the last two weeks," Smith revealed. "On Monday we sat down with the players and went through all the batsmen who I think are going to be playing, even Allen Richardson, and did some tactical work on the players and how we want to attack them. I gave the bowlers some homework to do, in terms of studying the batsmen, and we just hope it all comes together on the day."

Certainly Cann will be a big miss in the St. David's batting, but his replacement as skipper, OJ Pitcher, is fresh off a big knock in Cup Match and will be looking for another big innings.

Veteran Richardson was in line for a recall to add some stability and experience to the St. David's batting. "Lionel is the type of batsman who can single-handedly win a game," Smith acknowledged. "To have him out is a big bonus for us, he's the type of guy who can destroy any bowling attack. They are going to miss him and miss George as well, somebody who is explosive with the ball. I'm just hoping the guys can put their heads down and put some pressure on St. David's ¿ put together a big score and put some pressure on them after that."

Smith choose not to think too far ahead to the final with Flatts, either as a guest player again with St. David's or with new champions Cleveland. "Whether St. David's look to pick me after that, that is totally up to them," he said. "My wishes go out to Cleveland, it's a long time since they won it. You can feel county cup is around because some of the former players are coming out and looking and observing the training sessions and offering some advice here and there. I think the time is right for Cleveland." Smith added: "Having played down at St. David's I know what county cup means to them. If you ask any St. David's player would they prefer to win the league or the county cup they would tell you county cup is more important to them.

"It's not going to be easy to pry it away from them but on the day if my team shows up and plays to the best of their ability they are more than capable of winning it. It's just a matter of executing, you can plan all you want. It's all about being disciplined and having the right attitude, I think."

q Sunday's schedule

Premier Division: Western Stars v Cleveland (St. John's Field); Social Club v St. David's (Devonshire Rec); St. George's v Somerset (Wellington Oval); Flatts v Southampton Rangers (St. David's).

First Division: Leg Trappers v Devonshire Rec. (Sea Breeze Oval); Somerset Bridge v Bailey's Bay (White Hill Field); Warwick v Police (Southampton Oval); Willow Cuts v PHC (Somerset).