Island is spared the wrath of Hurricane Luis this weekend in order that the opening matches of the Jamaica tour can go ahead at Somerset today and tomorrow.

The worst of the weather is forecast for later this afternoon and early tomorrow, bringing high winds and rain as the hurricane passes to the west of the Island. If the hurricane continues on its present course it will likely bring enough wind and rain to force the postponement of the first two matches of the tour.

By late yesterday the Board was taking a wait and see approach, preferring to assess the weather this morning before deciding whether to shorten or postpone today's match.

"It is possible at the start of play we will go from 50 overs to 40 overs to get in a match,'' said BCBC president Ed Bailey yesterday.

"We're going to play it by ear. We feel we could possibly start the game at 10 (a.m.) and make it a 40 over match, bearing in mind the closest point (of the hurricane) could come by 7.00 (p.m.) and it could get very bad anytime after 5.00.'' Bailey admitted, however, a 10.00 start could be difficult considering the Jamaicans only arrived in Bermuda last evening, having left Jamaica early yesterday. They, too, have been concerned about the hurricane and were calling Bailey at dawn yesterday to determine whether they should continue with their travel plans.

If today's match is called off then attempts will be made to try to reschedule it for Wednesday, sandwiched inbetween the matches on Tuesday and Thursday against a Bermuda Youth team and the league champions, Western Stars.

All six matches will be 50 overs per side starting at 11 a.m. and tomorrow the venue will also be Somerset Cricket Club when Jamaica meet a BCBC President's XI. Bailey is confident that match will go ahead, if the hurricane has passed the Island by then.

"Somerset are doing all they can to co-operate with the Board,'' Bailey said.

"We're doing our best to try to get the six matches in. They (Jamaica) have sent up a selector to watch them play, so obviously the Jamaicans are using this opportunity as a good exercise for themselves.

"Those young fellas want to go back home with plenty of runs and plenty of wickets in the scorebook.'' Dexter Basden will captain both local teams this weekend, with Somerset Cricket Club retaining nine players from this year's Cup Match for today's match.

The strength of the Somerset team will be their batting where they have Basden, Albert Steede, Jeff Richardson, Andre Manders and Roger Trott, along with club players Reid Jones and Cordell Gilbert who come in for Richard Basden and Shannon Warner from the XI which represented the club in Cup Match.

The Jamaicans, even without several players who are in England, have a solid team. Captain and opening batsman Delroy Morgan, Wayne Lewis and Robert Samuels are three of the more experienced members.

The tour party will include a host of youngsters who are being groomed for the future. They include promising fast bowlers Denville McKenzie and O'Neil Richards, who are in the West Indies youth team which is being captained by another Jamaican youngster, Gareth Breese.

Three other teenagers are batsmen Wayne Cuff, Wavell Hinds, who was the leading scorer in the Northern Telecom Youth Tournament this year, and Ray Stewart who is a batsman and fast-medium bowler.

Harris' Bay 220 Somerset 107 Showing that they still have some spring in their step, Harris Bay's Old Boys trampled western counterparts Somerset by 113 runs on Thursday as the two teams renewed acquaintance for their 43rd annual battle.

Batting first on the concrete, matted wicket at Harris's Bay Field, the home team treated a healthy crowd of onlookers to a rampant display of cavalier batting, though obviously not so fluent and swift as in their prime.

Top scoring was Sinclair Archibald, who littered the boundary on his way to 66 before finally falling victim to spinner Reggie Tucker.

Other key contributors were Larry Smith (39), Mike McGowan (36) and Dennis Wainwright Sr. (35) as Harris's Bay made their opponents toil in the unrelenting heat.

Somerset's Tucker slaved long and hard and was able to reap most reward in claiming eight for 76, while team-mate Bernard Brangman had two for 78.

Set a solid target the West Enders failed miserably, collapsing under the pressure of the Harris Bay attack.

Tucker led the way in the batting department with a dogged 39 not out. The only others in double figures were Ray Simons (20) and Aaron Sabir (16).

Eugene Smith was the best bowler, returning remarkable figures of three for three, while Archibald completed a fine all-round performance by taking three for 28 and Dennis Musson two for 16.