Unlike two years ago when he boldly predicted St. George's would get a victory at Wellington Oval on his specially prepared pitch, veteran groundsman Clayton (Animal) Raynor is taking the cautious route this time around.

Raynor has again been given the enormous responsibility of preparing a batting strip for the biggest cricket spectacle on the Island. And this time the stakes are even higher as St. George's are not only bidding to defend their title but also win three straight matches against rivals Somerset.

"There's no need to go out on a limb this year because I just want to prove that Bermudian groundsmen are capable of producing world class strips.

Therefore, my goal is to prepare a good strip where everybody can come out and enjoy a beautiful game of cricket like my father used to say," Raynor said.

The long-time Southampton resident is the son of late pioneering groundsman, Harley Raynor, who played a leading role in the introduction of turf wickets on the Island in the early 1970s.

Throughout the years Raynor's wealth of experience has been passed down to several generations ¿ among them the late curator's son Clayton who "hated" having to prepare batting strips with his father as a teenager.

"I wasn't interested in wickets at first and thought the work was really boring. But after I began helping out and trying different things I began to have fun. Now I really enjoy doing wickets," the St. George's groundsman said.

Over the years Raynor has prepared Cup Match wickets at both ends of the Island with his late father, cousin Sheridan Raynor, Mansfield (Bojangles) Smith, Winton (Timmy) Edwards and the late MacDonald (Bull) Swan.

"Whether I do it for Somerset or St. George's. . . I take great pride in my wicket and sometimes I can tell you exactly what it's going to do before a match," he said.

"It takes lots of concentration and patience to prepare a wicket. Every ground has its own characteristics and we once had some of the best wickets in the world."

Raynor said preparing any batting strip required special care.

"Every game is Cup Match to me because I know I have 22 men playing out there and they don't want to get hurt. So it's my responsibility to ensure they don't get hurt," he added.

In 2005 Raynor predicted St. George's would dethrone then champions Somerset on his strip.

"Building that wicket was something. I just knew they (Somerset) couldn't handle it. It was just too fast for them," he said.

"St.George's had already trained on it and it was too much for them also during their trial matches ¿ they hardly made any runs. But at least they had the upper hand over Somerset because they knew what to expect and exactly how the pitch would play."