Weather permitting, Cup Match 2007 promises to be something special in the East End.

With champions St. George's gunning for a third straight win and challengers Somerset anxious to stop the rot, the stage has been set for what many predict will be a hard-fought battle over the next two days.

Not since Cal (Bummy) Symonds' 1969 Cup Match-winning side have a St. George's team won three times on the trot. However, 38 years on Lionel Cann's East End team find themselves on the verge of duplicating that feat for the first time on turf, playing in the modern era.

On paper, both teams are probably as good as it gets. In left-arm spinner Hasan Durham, Somerset have a new leader while teenage all-rounder Derek Brangman ¿ a colt in this year's classic ¿ perhaps represents a brighter future along with promising vice-captain Jacobi Robinson, Malachi Jones, Stephen Outerbridge and Jekon Edness for the West Enders who are keen to put two successive defeats behind them and restore pride in the camp.

All-rounder Robinson has produced unbeaten knocks of 83 and 95 in his last three visits to the crease to give some indication that he is peaking at the right time, while opener Outerbridge and all-rounders Jones and Brangman have also shone with the bat this summer.

Edness is likely to shoulder a huge responsibility opening the challengers' batting along with Outerbridge, while young Jones is one of three options to take the new ball.

In Brangman, Somerset have chosen a potential match-winner as the Devonshire player is capable of beating the leather off the ball and seizing wickets at crucial stages of the match. Master blaster Janeiro Tucker is poised to return to the venue where he surpassed Lloyd James' previous record (173) in 2001. Tucker set a new mark at Wellington Oval with a robust 186 in a match that fizzled out to a tame draw.

Tucker's Southampton Rangers team-mate Dwayne Leverock hasn't moved mountains with his left-arm spin lately, but has produced solid knocks at the crease ¿ including a century against Western Stars ¿ to reaffirm that he's no slouch with the bat either.

Quickie Kevin Hurdle, who has been on two losing Somerset teams in St. George's, is fresh off a whirlwind 58 off 61 balls playing for Social Club against Rangers last weekend. He also claimed three for 25 in a winning cause, an outstanding all-round performance Somerset will be hoping the World Cup player can repeat over the next two days should the weather hold up.

Skipper Durham reportedly pulled up bowling against Cleveland last Sunday at Somerset Cricket Club, but according to team management has been declared fit to lead the West Enders' charge.

All-rounder Dean Stephens has enjoyed another fruitful season with both bat and ball at Devonshire and could turn out to be a key factor for Somerset this year, while specialist bat Azeem Pitcher is long overdue for a decent knock in the classic.

St. George's, on the other hand, have assembled a formidable batting line-up containing some of the Island's most in-form batsmen.

Early order bat Charlie Marshall, perhaps making his final Cup Match appearance, smashed 115 off 73 balls for Social Club last Sunday. Marshall is the classic's all-time leading run-getter with 1,252 to his credit and in 1980 became the first colt to score a century (100 not out) on his debut at Wellington Oval with a memorable six off the final delivery of the match.

Last year in Somerset Marshall and all-rounder OJ Pitcher, last year's Cup Match MVP, set a new fifth-wicket batting partnership record worth 168 that rescued St.George's from a precarious 59 for four during the morning's play on the first day.

Marshall, currently tied for third with former Somerset skipper John Tucker (22) on the all-time list for the most catches in Cup Match, needs only three more to equal leader Amon Hunt's record of 25 achieved between 1919 and 1945.

Another former St.George's skipper, Clay Smith, needs only 14 runs to join elder brother Wendell Smith and Marshall as the only batsmen to score 1,000 runs in the classic.

Skipper Cann has also been in punishing form with the bat since returning from the World Cup, smashing a double century (207) against Flatts at Lords earlier this month.

If he can get stuck in, colt James Celestine is another batsman who could be a potential threat to Somerset's victory plans.

Celestine, who will make his national team debut for Bermuda in Denmark next week, already has two centuries under his belt and also an unbeaten knock of 91 against Rangers at the beginning of the season.

The Grenada -born middle order bat lashed 72 off 38 balls in St. George's' final Cup Match trial last weekend before being called in by team management.

George O'Brien jr will again spearhead the champions' new ball attack. O'Brien claimed four for 42 in last weekend's final trial match, while off-spinner Delyone Borden also showed good form by seizing five for 36.

Cousins Arthur and OJ Pitcher, two of six St. David's Islanders in St. George's' Cup Match team this year, provide the hosts with additional bowling options, as well as veteran Marshall who has also shone with the old ball this season in league play.

Islanders' wicketkeeper/batsman Chris Foggo returns to St. George's' team after being omitted in 2006 and is now tipped to open the innings with teenager Oronde Bascome.

Overall, St.George's have won Cup Match for three consecutive years on four different occasions. Rivals Somerset have achieved the remarkable feat on five occasions but have not won at Wellington Oval since 1981.