Cleveland County and Bailey’s Bay have announced their sides for the Eastern County Cup first round showdown at Lord’s, St David’s, on Saturday.

Holders Cleveland stuck with the side that drew with St David’s in the final round last year, with Damali Bell brought in for the retired Dion Stovell.

From the team beaten by Cleveland in the 2025 second round, Azendé Furbert, Zeko Burgess and Jarryd Richardson have made way for Bay. Their spots were taken by the recalled trio of Sinclair Smith, Dennico Hollis and Michael Agard.

Speaking shortly after the squad was revealed to members, Bay captain Terryn Fray expressed satisfaction with the selection process.

“I thought that the selection committee did well in picking the team,” Fray told The Royal Gazette.

“It wasn’t easy because you want the selection to influence your home-grown players. Then you see the quality that you have for guest players, you can’t deny these guys because they’re some of the best cricketers.

“But then at the same time you also have to manage your own. You have to be able to be confident in the decisions that you make.

“Jarryd Richardson is away at school abroad so we have recalled Sinclair Smith. Azendé Furbert and Zeko Burgess were not selected.”

Hollis is back in the Bay squad for the first time since 2017 having been based in Scotland from that year until last September.

“It's an honour and privilege to represent my community,” the 37-year-old said.

“I’m looking forward to helping bring the cup back to Bailey’s Bay. I’ve always made myself available for selection, but with me being overseas, it was always tough to get back to Bermuda.

“With the amount of cricket that I had on my plate playing abroad, that was part of the reasons as well. Now that I’m back home full-time, I’ll always be available to play for Bay.

“I’d love to bring experience with the bat and the ball plus some energy in the field. Not so many teams have a left-arm seam bowler and that can cause problems for the opposition.

“I would love to take some wickets and help my team win the game. There’s no other way for us, we need to win the game and we have to come with our A game and just look to get that victory.”