TWO teams aiming to reach the final of the Combined Knockout Cup competition on Saturday will have former captains trying to derail their progress.

Western Stars go up against St. George's in one semi-final at Sea Breeze Oval while Police, the only First Division side remaining, take on Southampton Rangers at Wellington Oval. At stake are places in the June 29 final.

Two players, Gary Brangman of St. George's and Southampton Rangers' Stevie Lightbourne, will be hoping to reach the final at the expense of their former clubs, Western Stars and Police.

Stars are already through to one final, the Camel Cup, and must be favourites to reach a second. However, as they know from experience, St. George's can be tough opponents...even if they aren't the team they were a few years ago when they had the likes of Wendell Smith, Clay Smith, Dean Minors - all now with St. David's - and spinners Maxwell Curtis, Eugene Foggo and David Adams.

These days the team is a younger looking one, though the return from retirement of Brangman gives the team an extra edge in their seam attack where they already have Gregg Foggo and Herbie Bascome. Without Foggo and Adams, there is no longer an emphasis on spin which brought the team so much of its success in the late 1980s and 1990s.

Brangman, who did not play last season, was lured out of retirement by members at St. George's. As a St. George's resident the decision was made easier, but he knows his former teammates won't be making things easy for him.

"I know they are hungry and coming after me, but I'm looking forward to it," said Brangman this week after the semi-final draw was made.

"I'm going out there to do the best I can to enjoy the game and help St. George's overcome Stars. A couple of old members at the club asked me to give them a season, so I decided to give them a season after a long debate. I wanted to test myself again to see if I still had it anyway.

"I'm enjoying it, I'm having fun and there is no pressure on me."

The St. George's batting, while not of the depth of Stars, has some useful experience with Charlie Marshall, captain Graham Fox and Ricky Hodsoll in the middle order. Teenagers Detroy Smith and Mishael Paynter are finding their feet at the top of the order while Travis Smith has had a couple of 40s in the middle order.

Not much more needs to be said about Stars' quality in that department. They have veteran Arnold Manders coming in at at number six ready to make a useful contribution just in case the top order led by captain Albert Steede, Jermaine Postlethwaite, Gershon Gibbons and Saleem Mukudem fail to do the job. Manders had such a knock last Saturday against St. David's in the last round of the Knockout, scoring 49 not out after Stars struggled early on in their chase of a modest 136 to win.

The small Sea Breeze Oval ground should produce a high scoring match and it is a ground Charlie Marshall is very familiar with, having begin his cricket at 'Bay'.

Police will be looking to arrest another Premier Division side when they take on Rangers at Wellington Oval. Former Police captain Stevie Lightbourne is one of the batsmen Rangers will be relying on for a big total, though the Western Counties side know they cannot afford a performance like the one they had last weekend on the same ground.

Veterans Dennis Archer and Ferdinald Thorne are still playing a key role in this new look Police team whose main aim is to reclaim a place in the Premier Division. Police have beaten two Premier Division teams, Cleveland and Somerset, to reach the last four of the cup, though it should be said that neither of them are as strong as Rangers who should reach their second straight knockout final...very likely to meet the team they lost to in the 2000 final which was actually played at the start of the 2001 season and won by Stars. The BCBC scrapped the knockout from the 2001 schedule, so technically Stars are the defending champions.

Rivals St. George's and St. David's meet for the second time this season when St. David's travel to Wellington Oval on Sunday for the third round of league matches. St. George's and Stars are the only teams with two wins from two outings, with Stars looking for win number three away to Somerset.

In the other matches, Flatts take on Cleveland at Sea Breeze Oval while Southampton Rangers host Bailey's Bay.

Flatts gave Stars a major scare last weekend after a brilliant century from James Celestine, which contained 14 sixes, saw Flatts reply with 273 in reply to Stars' mammoth total of 347. At one stage Flatts were 231 for two with 19 overs left. But once the 187-run stand between Celestine and Derek Wright was broken, the innings crumbed and they were dismissed for 273.

Lloyd Fray has come out of retirement to take over a player-coach role at Flatts and once he can get the players to believe in themselves they have it in them to compete with the top teams.

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LEADERS Leg Trappers sounded a warning to their Commercial Cricket League rivals when they trounced defending champions St. David's by nine wickets at Devonshire Recreation Club on Sunday, writes Third Man.

Trappers maintained their two-point lead over North Village - nine-wicket victors over Devonshire Stars - while Forties and West Indian Association also got into top gear with emphatic wins.

Forties beat 10-man Police Recreation Club by nine wickets at Royal Naval Field while a superb unbeaten century by Dave Greenidge set up WIA's crushing 167-run victory over Jamaican Association in the calypso showdown at Shelly Bay.

COMMERCIAL RESULTS

(42 overs per side)

At Garrison Field: North Village (10 pts) beat Devonshire Stars (0 pts) by nine wickets. Devonshire Stars 74 in 24.4 overs (D.Smith 49; C.Caisey 4-27, D.Bell 4-36, K.Jennings 2-6), North Village 75-1 in 21 overs (R.Swan 35 not out, K.Thompson 23 not out).

At. Royal Naval Field: Forties (10 pts) beat Police Recreation Club (0 pts) by nine wickets. Police Recreation Club (10 men) 59 in 26.4 overs (J.Walters 22; D.Jarrett 4-6, T.Corday, Jr. 4-13), Forties 63-1 in 9.1 overs (R.Simons 39 not out).

At Shelly Bay: West Indian Association (10 pts) beat Jamaican Association (0 pts) by 167 runs. West Indian Association 256-5 in 40 overs, innings closed (D.Greenidge 131 not out, A.Boyce 39, O.Clarke 24 not out, J.Callender 23: R.Ramotar 2-17, G.Brown 2-55), Jamaican Association 89 in 23 overs (S.Francis 3-18, R.Liverpool 2-23).

At Devonshire Recreation Club: Leg Trappers (10 pts) beat St. David's (0 pts) by nine wickets. St. David's 131 in 36 overs (S.Pitcher 57; J.Swan 4-14, M.Wetherhill 2-12, D.Hosier 2-25), Leg Trappers 132-1 in 31.3 overs (G.Knight 75, D.Henderson 54 not out).

Sunday's fixtures: Devonshire Stars v Leg Trappers, Garrison Field; West Indian Association v Forties, Royal Naval Field; Police v St. David's, Lord's; Jamaican Association v North Village, Shelly Bay. Games start at 12.30 p.m.