Eastern Counties champions Bailey's Bay have made three changes to the team that dethroned St.David's at Sea Breeze Oval last year.

Explosive left-handed batsman Glenn Blakeney, Cal (Patches) Dill and Clarkie Trott have all been included in the champion's team which takes on Cleveland County at Lords tomorrow in the first round of the popular summer classic.

The trio have come in to fill the voids left by injured skipper Irving Romaine and seamer Burton Outerbridge and young spinner Rodney Trott, who is currently overseas with the Island's Under-19 national youth team in Canada.

The full squad is as follows: Dennis Pilgrim (capt), Jermaine Outerbridge (vice-capt), Jermaine Warner, Stephen Outerbridge, Dennis Trott, Charlie Marshall, Blakeney, Roderick Masters, Corey Hill, Dill and Trott. Reserves are Jemieko Marshall and Christino Smith.

Challengers Cleveland, were expected to announce their team last night.

"Obviously we have strengthened our team. On paper it is strong and hopefully on the day all will go well," said a confident Bay coach Ricky Hill yesterday.

Pilgrim has taken over the helm at Bay in the absence of injured skipper Romaine.

"Irving (Romaine) hasn't played any games this season because he had a bit of a knee problem and had a very minor operation," explained Hill. "He felt that he wasn't quite ready yet and it is good that he was honest with the team as a captain."

Promising seamer Burton Outerbridge has also been sidelined with a lower back injury.

"It's good that both players have made it clear that they are injured because you don't want to see players going into the match knowing that they are injured and get give you their all," added Hill, who also took part in the team selection process.

The former Bay opener is also pleased to see former St.George's Cup Match and son of the soil Clarkie Trott back out in whites. Trott has played a few games this summer after spending the past few seasons playing golf.

"He is a quality bowler," said Hill. "Clarkie has picked up a few wickets this season in the matches that he has played in.

"All of these guys have played county cup before and I just hope that it all goes well on the day. The team that we have selected is obviously very strong. If you look at it, we have the bowlers and the batsmen all the way through to number ten."

Eastern Counties action gets underway at 10 a.m. tomorrow at Lords. The team batting first will be allowed a maximum of 70 overs to bat while the team batting second has been allotted 48.