Southampton Rangers? wicketkeeper/batsman Kwame Tucker has been ruled out of his team?s line-up for this weekend?s Belco Cup competition.

Tucker is still suffering from the effects of a bothersome groin injury that cost him his place on Bermuda?s recent tour of England and Guernsey.

Rangers will now have to open their Belco Cup defence against Bailey?s Bay tomorrow at Lords without the services of their top wicketkeeper and early order bat who earlier this year successfully completed cricket studies in Australia along with St.David?s fast bowler George O?Brien jr.

Rangers defeated St.David?s by 133 runs last season to lay claim to a second Belco Cup title.

?I am not fit yet and so I will not be playing this weekend,? Tucker told yesterday. ?My groin is healing but I don?t want to risk re-injuring it and want to return fully fit.?

Tucker, who hopes to be fully recovered in another week or so, is confident the defending champions will cope well in his absence ? something the team have become accustomed to having had to play without national team members Janeiro Tucker, Lionel Cann and Dwayne Leverock for the most of the season so far.

?I have a lot of faith in the team because they have been coping well without a lot of players all this time,? said Tucker. ?They just have to maintain the good work they?ve been doing so far.

?I think as long as the guys put their heads down and bat well our chances of defending the cup will be good.?

Tucker praised teenage interim skipper Malachi Jones ? heavily tipped to make his Cup Match debut this summer at Somerset ? for his handling of the team in the absence of Janeiro Tucker.

Jones captained Rangers to a first Two-Day League championship last month in Tucker?s absence.

?Malachi is doing a great job with the team and with all the senior players around him providing support should be okay this weekend,? Tucker added.

Rangers regular skipper Janeiro Tucker returned home with the national squad on Wednesday night and is still trying to shake off the effects of a nagging cold he picked up in Guernsey.

Sizing up his team?s semi-final opponents, Tucker warned his team-mates not take Bailey?s Bay for granted.

Under the coaching of Noel Gibbons, Bay have fast become a force to be reckoned with.

?Bay have a very good side and when they show up they can play some very good cricket,? Tucker said. ?And so we will have to be very watchful of that and try to play to our own full potential. If we can achieve that I am confident we can get the job done.?

Tomorrow?s other Belco Cup semi-final sees Western Stars pitted against last year?s beaten finalists St.David?s at Somerset Cricket Club.

Two-time champions St.David?s will be bolstered by the return of national team trio OJ Pitcher, George O?Brien jr and Delyone Borden, while Stars welcome Hasan Durham, Saleem Mukuddem and Treadwell Gibbons jr back into the fold.

Irving Romaine returns to Bay?s line-up, however the three-time Belco Cup champions will be without the services of seamer Ryan Steede.

Steede is currently on a seven-week playing stint in the UK with Atherstone Cricket Club in Warwickshire.