against holders Western Stars in the third round of the Central Counties competition at St. John's field tomorrow (11 a.m).

The boys in blue arrested then champions Stars in the second round that year when they handcuffed their batting lineup, limiting them to just 150 runs.

Police then coasted home, spurred on by Mervyn Greaves knock of 77, winning by three wickets.

Greaves is no longer with Police...and neither is the Cup, which was lifted by Nationals in the final last year. But they do possess quite an arsenal in the form of Dennis Archer, Tyrone Smith, Andre Hendrickson and skipper Ferdinand Thorne. All can be quite explosive with the bat on any given day and a depleted Stars side will have to dig deep for something extra if they are to be the ones left standing when the dust settles.

"I will be looking to win...and I hope that my team will be looking the same way,'' said Thorne following a team meeting at the Police Recreation Club last night. "Cricket is played in three categories and to do well we must outplay them in a least two categories if we are to come out winners''.

Smith in particular has shone brightly when put on the Counties' stage as evidenced by his holding of two of the top three individual scores. Both times Social club were his victims as he torched them for 214 in 1988 and slammed 179 out of a record team total of 501 back in 1981.

Although not expected to seriously challenge that total they are certain to make a go of it, as it has become their custom to attack the bowling. And with Stars' main strike bowler Gary Brangman missing from the match it may make the job of scoring runs that much easier.

No slouches with the ball, Police will most likely call on Ossie Hinds and Roger Blades to open the bowling with Michael Jackman and the skipper himself also likely to toss down a few overs. And when the shine is gone former Cup Match Player, Dwayne Leverock can be expected to come on and attempt to fool the batsmen with his left-arm spinners.

Stars were likewise below strength when they lost the title two years ago due to Bermuda's participation in the ICC Trophy competition. Once again this weekend they will be without regulars Arnold Manders, Jeff Richardson and Brangman, who are touring England with the national squad, and opener Gregory Sampson remains out of the lineup with a wrist injury.

Nevertheless, Thorne said that he is wary of a sleeping giant that may be resting, waiting to spring.

"There may be players hiding in the woodwork waiting to explode...look at what they (Stars) did to Nationals.'' Indeed the Pembroke club was able to rise to the occasion against Nationals despite their obvious flaws, largely because of the surprising accuracy of medium-pacer Leroy (Curly) Wilson and timely half centuries by Dexter Smith and opener Hasan Durham.

However, their task should be much harder this week as many view them as being ripe for the picking.