St.David?s skipper Clay Smith has taken full responsibility for his team?s dismal batting display in Sunday?s Belco Cup final at Lord?s ? a performance which dashed the Islanders? hopes against eventual champions Western Stars.

Asked to score 148 runs at a rate of 4.32 per over from 34 overs, St.David?s plummeted from 48 for two to 102 all out in just 29.5 overs to give Stars a first Belco Cup triumph since the competition ? formerly known as the Camel Cup ? changed sponsors last year.

?I think as a team we really showed our age and immaturity with our batting. I didn?t think we picked up enough singles or rotated the strike well enough . . . we just did some basic things wrong with the bat at critical moments of the game. I think when they did bowl a bad ball we failed to put it away,? said the skipper.

?In hindsight I felt I should have gone and batted at number three and actually led from the front. But at the same time it is games like this that I want my youngsters to be able to express themselves because they are still young.

?Yes, I could?ve probably batted earlier but a lot of the youngsters wouldn?t have received the experience they were exposed to . . . it?s all a learning experience for them.?

The Islanders captain also defended the decision to shuffle his batting order.

?It was a gamble. And I took the gamble because I felt with Shannon (Raynor) in particular, he is one who can really belt the ball about. We took the gamble that if he and Lionel (Cann) got going then the run rate would be reduced tremendously,? Smith said.

?But if they didn?t then we would have the security of Delyone (Borden) and myself in the middle to stabilise the innings. So it was a gamble and in normal circumstances I would bat in the middle order but it failed on that particular day ? and that?s cricket.?

After dismissing the might of Stars for a modest 182 and then having the winning target reduced significantly, few would have argued against a comfortable St.David?s victory, especially given that the Islanders possess great depth in their batting.

Smith, however, felt overconfidence might have attributed to his team?s swift demise.

?I think bowling them out for 182 we were extremely confident we could reach their score because St.David?s wicket is a batsmen?s paradise,? he said. ?To bowl Stars out under 200 runs on that wicket was a great accomplishment. However, at the lunch break I told my players we still have a long way to go. Our shot selection was just poor and that?s what it all boiled down to.

?I kept stressing to the guys that Stars had four strong bowlers and one weak bowler in their team. We had to capitalise on that weak bowler and really exploit him, but we didn?t.?

Despite ending up as bridesmaids, Smith reckoned his team ? with an average age of 21 ? will have gained valuable experience from Sunday?s loss.

?We haven?t arrived yet,? he declared. ?We are going to grow from strength to strength. We aren?t discouraged, if anything we are encouraged.?

St.David?s are set to have their ranks bolstered with the likes of promising fast bowler Stefan Kelly, spinner Del Hollis, all-rounder Sammy Robinson and top wicketkeeper Dean Minors all due to rejoin the fold in the upcoming weeks.

?Although our team is still young, they are eager to win,? Smith warned. ?The level of enthusiasm is extremely high and if anything Sunday?s result will encourage them because it lets them know, although they are good, they still have a long way to go.?

While Smith lamented over Sunday?s loss, newly appointed Stars skipper Hasan Durham ? who grabbed man-of-the-match bowling figures of five for ten ? basked in the glory of victory.

?It (first championship) didn?t take long and we were really looking forward to winning this trophy in order to get our season off to a good start. This was the first trophy that we played for and we really wanted to win this one,? said Durham.

Despite his team mustering a modest total, Durham said he never lost faith in his bowlers.

?In a situation like that, no matter what you score you have to go out there and defend it. As long as you make one run you have to think you can defend it and win the game,? he added.

?No matter what score we posted, our job was to go out there and defend it ? and that?s exactly what we achieved.?

The team of Rodney Trott and Tre? Govia captured last week?s Youth Vision Promotions Double Wicket Cricket Tournament held at Sea Breeze Oval. Promising Bailey?s Bay pair Kearon and Eunico Trott finished as runners-up in the under-17 youth competition involving six teams.

Youth Vision Promotions also held the second annual under-14 five-a-side football festival at Southside over the weekend. Baby Hornets ? a younger version of League and FA Cup champions Dandy Town ? demonstrated they too were championship material by emerging victorious. St.David?s, last year?s champions, finished runners-up, Harlem United third and Youth Vision fourth.