St. George’s have turned to two 39-year-olds to lead their team in this year’s Cup Match, but Somerset are advised not to see it as a defensive ploy as Lionel Cann and Glenn Blakeney are two of the most attack-minded batsmen in local cricket.Cann was called on to lead the champions after surgery ruled out last year’s captain Oronde Bascome while Blakeney was recalled to the team after a three-year absence.Both still have an appetite for winning as was seen last year when Cann led St. George’s to a thrilling two-wicket victory at Wellington Oval with his defiant 49 not out in the second innings.Two weeks later at Sea Breeze Oval in the Eastern Counties, Blakeney showed he still has the ability to produce big innings with a record score of 218 off 120 balls against Flatts.The man who once hit a six off the first ball in Cup Match at Somerset, cemented his recall after a long absence with 86 not out in the last trial match and will be Cann’s vice-captain.“We have guys who can score naturally quick and also guys who can consolidate and who have made big scores,” said Cann who previously captained the team from 2006 to 2009 and scored a maiden century (104 not out) in his last match as captain before resigning the post.“No matter what sort of team you pick, everything always falls on the experienced players. St. George’s have been blessed with a lot of good players and people have said what are St. George’s going to do once Clay and Charlie are gone because they delivered year in and year out.“Then we phased them out and OJ (Pitcher) came in as Clay’s replacement and I more or less took the Charlie role so we’ve always had good players to come in and fill those voids.“So the next thing was ‘what are you going to do when Lionel Cann retires’, but now Allan Douglas Jr is coming through and showing a lot of promise and I feel he is going to be my replacement.”In four years as captain, Cann won once (2006) and drew the next three. He would love to mark his return as captain with a victory in Somerset. He feels he has a well balanced team capable of pulling off another victory. The 2010 match at Somerset was shaping up very nicely for a result before the second day was ruined by heavy rain.“We have a very good attack, two fast bowlers and a swing bowler for all conditions and two specialists spinners,” said the veteran of 18 Cup Match since making his debut in 1993 and missing only one year (2000) when he was touring with St. David’s.“It’s a well-balanced team to get a result, but Somerset’s team also has a mixture that could get them a result if we’re not on top of our game. It only takes one session in cricket to turn the tide.”Draws still dominate Cup Match with 43 no-results in the history of the Classic compared to 35 wins for Somerset and 34 for St. George’s. Since the year-about was introduced in 1995 there have been 10 draws, four wins for St. George’s and three for Somerset.“These are two very good teams but young and inexperienced teams, and with that comes a lot of mistakes,” said Cann. “With that you will see a lot of results in the next 10 years.“Somerset have stuck by their youngsters which is good but I have to worry about my own team. There were a couple of guys who were on the fringe but it took us only 40 minutes to select the team, five good cricketing minds (selectors), and this is the first time I’ve never heard anyone complain about the team when it was presented to the members.“I haven’t had any feedback about complaints at all and that’s the first time in my history.”The batting order might just depend on the conditions or state of the match, but Cann did confirm that colt Treadwell Gibbons will open the innings, possibly with Jason Anderson who opened twice last year, scoring 52 in the first innings.He is hitting form at the right moment with his 91 last weekend in the trial match. Stefan Kelly is the main strike bowler and will lead from the front with the new ball, not a difficult decision at all after his 10-wicket haul last year.“Stefan is our leading attack bowler and will take the first over, without a doubt,” Cann confirmed. “And then we’ll see how the pitch plays. If it is a fast bouncy wicket we’ll use Justin (Pitcher) for his height and pace and if it is slow, low wicket we’ll use Kyle (Hodsoll) for his swing bowling.”And if the conditions supports spin then the St. George’s captain will look to main spinners Delyone Borden and Rodney Trott with Glenn Blakeney and Douglas, who is bowling spin these days, as back-up.“Glenn Blakeney bowls one of the best googlies in Bermuda and Allan Douglas has been getting a lot of wickets with spin this year so we have a lot of variety for different situations . . . and it might be required if Somerset get on top,” said the captain.The batting is particularly deep with Pitcher adding depth at eight or nine. He smashed 61 at Somerset for St. David’s in the T/20 semi-final recently and has the distinction of being possibly the only batsman to score half centuries on his debut in both the Eastern Counties and Cup Match.“Our bowlers are all-rounders so we are pretty strong and it will take a lot for Somerset to expose us,” said the skipper. “If we’re on top of our game we will be okay, we’ll control the controllables.”Cann has a person milestone within his grasp as he needs only 13 runs to become the fifth player to score 1,000 runs in Cup Match history, behind Wendell Smith, Charlie Marshall, Clay Smith and Janeiro Tucker. He admits it is on his mind as the match gets closer.“Actually it hasn’t been but everywhere you go somebody is mentioning it,” he said.“It would be nice to get it just to get if off everybody’s mind so I don’t have to hear it anymore. I will play for the situation and do what’s best for the team and what’s required. I can change the game or consolidate, I’ve done it all. I’ll put myself where the skipper is needed.“I’m indebted to St. George’s for giving me the opportunity to show my skills on the cricket field.”