The instructions to St. George’s groundsman Calvin Richardson were simple prepare a result wicket for this year’s Cup Match at Wellington Oval.Now the man who first took an interest in preparing the wicket from watching former groundsman Mansfield Smith, is hoping history will repeat itself and the result will go the way of the home team as it did in 1997 when Smith produced a track that favoured the bowlers.“When the home team doesn’t have the cup they want to prepare a wicket for a result,” said Richardson who became club groundsman last year and is preparing his first Cup Match wicket. However, he knows the wicket could also favour Somerset’s bowlers.“We definitely have to take the chance. As you can see they (St. George’s) are taking three pace bowlers, a couple of seamers in OJ (Pitcher) and Treaddy (Gibbons) and are only going with one (recognised) spinner, so I’m going to leave a bit of grass and hopefully those are the five who are going to wrestle the cup back from Somerset.”Traditionally the St. George’s wickets have favoured spin bowling but that was in the days when the likes of Maxwell Curtis, Eugene Foggo and David Adams played for the league team.And even when they won the cup back in ‘97, it was spinner Arnold Manders who did the bowling damage in the second innings, taking five for 30 from 12 overs. Foggo and Adams didn’t take a wicket between them in the entire match.“I spoke to the coach, Herbie Bascome, and he said what he would like, leaving the grass on there and not cutting it so tight,” said Richardson. “On the second day when the wicket dries out it will play a little different also.“This is the same wicket we used on Saturday (for the final trial) but it was on the damp side and you really couldn’t get a feel for exactly how it was going to play. We have played three league games on it and it played pretty good, with a bit of bounce.”Richardson doesn’t expect to “get a little time to myself” until Friday afternoon as the final preparation of the wicket continues on Wednesday and on Thursday morning. Showers have been forecast for Friday which could influence the result.“I’ve got a crew of guys to help out in case it rains and with marking the wicket, but I’ve still got to oversee the whole project,” added Richardson.“I prepared the wicket last year but for Cup Match you take a little more time because you want it looking real good, it has to last for two days.“When Mansfield Smith retired from doing the wicket 15 years ago he recommended that I be the one to take over because I was here a lot giving him a hand. I used to come over here and help him sift and wheel the clay from way down the back.“I used to come out and say ‘Mr Smith you’ve got a sink right there’ and he would give a giggle and say ‘bye, you’ve got a good eye on you, I saw it’.If there is a result this year it will be the first time in 30 years that the classic has witnessed three consecutive wins. Somerset won in 1981 in St. George’s and again in ‘82 in Somerset before Clevie Wade won back the cup for St. George’s after they lost it in 1979.