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Bay anxious to finish league with a bang

Stephen Outerbridge will lead Bailey's Bay into their final league match of the season against Southampton Rangers.

Premier Division champions Bailey’s Bay are desperate for a top six finish in the league . . . just in case a decision is made to revert to the two league format next season.Bay, last season’s most successful team, started this campaign as the team to beat only to lose almost half of their matches.Now they will aim to salvage something from their season by beating Southampton Rangers at home on Sunday in a clash that will decide the league title.Rangers (137) trail unbeaten leaders St David’s (149) by 12 points while Willow Cuts, who play St David’s at White Hill, are a further four points back on 133 points.Victory will ensure St David’s the title but Bay captain Stephen Outerbridge says it won’t be a case of doing anybody a favour as they need the points themselves to make certain of a top-six finish.Bay moved onto 90 points last weekend following their 151-run win over Somerset Bridge and they now trail fifth-placed St George’s by nine points. Somerset are nine points behind Bay in seventh place and could move ahead of Bay if they win against Devonshire Rec and Bay lose to Rangers.“We’re in a battle to stay in the top six, looking at the tables,” said Outerbridge who was one who questioned the Bermuda Cricket Board’s decision to do away with the Super Six League this season. Now his team are struggling to secure a top-six finish.“We don’t care what Rangers have to do, we at least have to stay in the top six, if there is a change (in the league format) next year. As far as the league, I really can’t say who I want to win but it looks like St David’s are going to win it. St David’s probably deserve it, up to this point they are still undefeated.“It’s never about doing anybody any favours and if we are in that predicament at any time I hope that nobody does us any favours so as to keep the integrity of the league. At the end of the day if St David’s win the league, congratulations, but we do have the knockout and the Twenty/20 to look forward to.“We play to win, we play to compete and we play for success and if we come out with two trophies we can still salvage a season that has definitely not gone out way.”Bay’s season hit a disappointing low last Saturday when they were soundly beaten in the Eastern Counties by St David’s who are threatening to do this season what Bay did last season.“I just think as sportsmen we learn every single day and year and in hindsight we probably took a lot of things for granted and got complacent,” explained the Bermuda captain.“We’re amateur athletes, we’re going to make mistakes, but rest assured we will be back next year. I’m very confident it won’t go down like it has gone this year. I know my team possesses a lot of qualities and in sport you learn when you are down.”In order to close the gap on St David’s, Rangers must pick up maximum bonus points against Bailey’s Bay and hope that Willow Cuts beat St. David’s.Even with a victory, Willow Cuts may not be able to close the 16-point gap between themselves and St David’s. To do so they will need to score over 300 runs if they bat first and then dismiss St David’s inside 35 overs.The final standings after this weekend’s league matches will determine the pairing for the Logic Knockout Championship, featuring the top eight teams, which takes place next Sunday.The bottom five teams in the standings will contest the Logic Plate competition. Western Stars and Devonshire Rec are battling for that eighth spot to make certain of competing in the main competition. Stars are the first team to finish their league campaign and are currently eighth on 58 points, but Rec (ninth on 47 points) have one match remaining against seventh-placed Somerset at home on Sunday.Victory, along with a couple of bonus points, will lift Rec ahead of Stars and set up a meeting with the league champions as second play seventh, third versus sixth and fourth meet fifth.The Lindo’s T20 tournament begins on September 7 with double-headers at Sea Breeze Oval, St David’s, St John’s and Somerset. The Logic Knockout and Plate semi-finals are scheduled for September 8.Meanwhile, on Wednesday it was stated that a Bailey’s Bay flag was burned at St David’s after last weekend’s Eastern Counties match. Witnesses have confirmed that it was in fact a red and white Bailey’s Bay shirt that was torched on Sunday evening.Fiqre Crockwell of St. David’s was voted the Logic Premier Division Player of the Week following his knock of 108 against Cleveland County on Sunday as St David’s won the match by 12 runs. Nyhrobi Carmichael of Bailey’s Bay in the Logic Emerging Player of the Week following his bowling figures of five for 18 against Somerset Bridge.