Hedges Champion of Champions competition again promises plenty of excitement and entertainment value with a beautiful trophy and plenty of prize money up for grabs.

Eastern Counties champions St. David's, who have never won the tournament despite appearing in three finals, face Nationals in Saturday's semifinal at White Hill field with the winner taking on three-time champions Southampton Rangers on Sunday for the title. Play starts at 11 a.m. both days.

The competition enters its 14th year as a fixture on the local cricketing calendar and, as the title suggests, presents the opportunity for the respective counties to establish bragging rights.

That distinction has gone to the Central Counties more often than not with them capturing top honours on eight occasions -- including 1989 when county selects were used -- compared to four times for the west and only once by the granddaddy of them all, the Eastern Counties, who have long claimed to be the best county.

Devonshire Rec. have been the most successful club to date, attested by four titles the last coming in 1987. Southampton will have a chance to equal that mark in Sunday's final.

Started back in 1978 with the idea of bringing the season to a climactic end, the competition underwent a revamping two years ago, being brought forward to an earlier date and involving the previous year's county winners rather than awaiting the outcome of the current season's tournaments.

Flatts, with Clarence Parfitt and Dennis Wainwright in the line-up, won that inaugural competition beating a highly-favoured Police side. West Indies great Sir Garfield Sobers was on hand to witness Parfitt devastate the officers, grabbing four for seven off his left-arm medium-pace and restrict them to a total of 141, while Wainwright earned man-of-the-match honours through some immaculate fielding behind the stumps and an unbeaten knock of 31 when Flatts appeared headed for collapse.

Sponsors almost shelved the competition the next year due to a problem finding alternative dates because of a delay in the playing of the Eastern Counties final. They eventually were forced to play the final on a Monday and saw Devonshire secure their first championship, downing Bailey's Bay.

More controversy followed in 1980 with allegations of ineligible players being used by Southampton Rangers in the Western Counties competition. A protest was filed by Somerset Bridge after they lost in the final but this was denied and Rangers went on to represent the county and win the title.

Rangers, boasting a line-up containing the likes of brothers Sheridan and Lee Raynor, their cousin Eldon Raynor, Colin Blades, John Tucker and Quinton Sherlock, were in their heyday and won an unprecedented seven titles that year. They returned in 1981 to successfully defend the Benson and Hedges against Devonshire, led by Gladstone (Sad) Brown.

With the western teams in decline and those from the east seemingly snake-bitten the central took control in 1982 snatching seven of the next eight titles, with only a 1984 victory by Bay disrupting the domination.

During that period Devonshire emerged triumphant on three occasions (1982, '85, '87) Western Stars won twice (1983 and '88), Police once (1986) and the Central Select added one more to the total.

Then, in 1990, Rangers brought the west their first title since '81 with back-to-back upsets of holders Western Stars and St. David's.

Willow Cuts pocketted the $1,200 winner's cheque last year and this time around it has been arranged for two of the Island's former greats to be presenters as organisers strive to identify those having contributed to sport in the past.