Current champions Somerset have placed youth ahead of experience by making two changes to their XI for the Cup Match Classic which gets underway at Somerset Cricket Club on Thursday.

Young all-rounder Jacobi Robinson, who goes before a Bermuda Cricket Board disciplinary committee today at 6 p.m to face the charge of bringing the game into disrepute, replaces the out of favour Wendell White while Bailey's Bay batsman Stephen Outerbridge takes his place at the expense of Sheridan Ming.

After two-and-a-half hours of relatively painless deliberation, Somerset's selection committee decided that the time was ripe to blood two of Bermuda's most promising young talents, although there have been whispers from some corners that White, who fulfilled a useful role with both bat and ball for the national squad this summer, was extremely unlucky not to keep his place.

Somerset's cricket chairman Anthony Bailey said yesterday that leaving out the Barbadian all-rounder had been a "difficult decision" but stressed that the club had wanted to strike a balance between keeping a core of experienced veterans while giving the young guns a chance to grab the limelight.

"Our record of late in Cup Match has been excellent," he said.

"But while we as a club are conscious of the fact that we need continuity, we also have to keep one eye on the future. Leaving Wendell out was a terrifically hard decision to make. He has given us his all this season and for a long time before that. But in the end we thought that Jacobi deserved his chance and I hope he'll prove us right."

On Ming's exclusion, Bailey said that the decision to replace him with Outerbridge had been "significantly more straightforward".

"It is clear Sheridan has been struggling of late," he said.

"He has not been doing the business consistently and I think even in his own mind he knew that he was going to be on the bubble for Cup Match this year. We certainly have no intention of ruling him out for the future but Stephen Outerbridge is young, talented and will add freshness to the team."

Another national team player who has missed out is seamer Kevin Hurdle, whose acknowledged wicket taking ability was cancelled out in the final reckoning by the uncharacteristic indiscipline which dogged his performance on Saturday.

"Kevin does have the ability to bowl quickly and produce wicket-taking deliveries," conceded Bailey.

"But he was not as controlled as he can be on Saturday and to be honest we felt that we had adequate bowling options available to us already."

Bailey expressed confidence in the "all-round ability" of the Classic team and said also he does not feel St.George's have the bowling attack to make significant inroads on a wicket which is predicted to be flat.

"Usually the games at Somerset turn out to be real runs festivals," he said.

"And with our batting line-up, I really cannot see St.George's making a huge impression as they simply do not have the depth in their bowling resources. As holders, we certainly are not going to prepare a wicket which is to our disadvantage either, but we expect our two left-arm spinners Hasan Durham and Dwayne Leverock to be more of a threat than anything they have to offer."

Bailey confirmed that the selection committee had "enormous faith" in the abilities of their new captain Janeiro Tucker ? even without his signature dreadlocks ? and also paid tribute to the long-serving Albert Steede who will be playing in his last Cup Match.

"We've been grooming Janeiro for some time now and he did a very good job as Albert's deputy," he said.

"The selectors are all very happy with him and importantly, he commands the respect of the players. It is obviously with regret that we will be saying goodbye to Albert after Cup Match this year. But we can all reflect on the fact that he has made a wonderful contribution to Somerset over the years, both as a player and as an excellent captain. He is a true gentleman, both on and off the pitch and I hope the crowd will pay tribute to his efforts over the two days."

Meanwhile, the President's XI defeated the Vice-President's XI by only 11 runs in an exciting final encounter on Saturday.

Set 242 to win on a placid track, the Vice-President's XI looked down and out of the run chase at 141 for seven, before an impressive even 50 from Saleem Mukuddem and a late charge from Western Stars skipper Hasan Durham (52) got them to within 11 runs of victory.

Earlier, Albert Steede produced a typically explosive 103 for the President's XI while Devon Wade finished 48 not out.