group of batsmen for tomorrow's Eastern Counties Cup final against Cleveland at Lord's by including opener Anthony Foggo for the second consecutive time.

Club selectors opted to go with the same team who scored a decisive eight-wicket victory against Flatts in the last round on August 15, even though the result was only recorded after Flatts had made a desperate declaration in an attempt to steal the cup.

Flatts closed their innings with 195 for seven at 3.30 p.m. to put St. David's in position where victory was well within reach -- and they did so with eight overs to spare.

But the fact remains that the Islanders' bowlers struggled to penetrate Flatts' batting after deciding to replace injured strike bowler Dale Fox with Foggo and this is believed to have been of great concern to them.

Foggo responded to the call and scored 58 runs, putting on 134 with his opening partner Wendell Smith who topped the batting with 71.

Skipper Ken Pitcher said yesterday that they were aware of the struggle by the bowling attack in the previous round, but noted that the selectors went ahead and chose the team they felt was best capable of retaining the cup.

The team is: Ken Pitcher (capt), Allen Richardson, Wendell Smith, Anthony Foggo, Albert Steede, Dean Pitcher, Del Hollis, Herbie Bascome, James Pace, Phillip Pitcher, Lionel Cann. Reserves: Sammy Robinson, Bruce Foggo, Rudy Smith.

"We simply had to go with our strongest possible team for this one, you just cannot take the opposing team for granted by taking somebody else and hiding them in the line-up,'' said Pitcher.

"It would have been nice to include a bowler like Scott Minors, but we decided to stick with the strong batting line-up and depend on the same bowlers we used in the previous round to lead us to victory once again.'' Despite the absence of another attack bowler, Pitcher insists that his intention is to chase after victory and not be satisfied with a draw just so that they can successfully defend the title.

"My intention is to go after victory. I have no desire of going into a defensive mode. Doing so will only cheat the crowd,'' he said.

"Flatts deserve credit for declaring in the previous round and giving us the challenge of chasing after victory. I thought the target they left us with was reachable and we got the runs. Much of the time it depends on how the game goes that dictates the outcome, I hope this time we are able to play attractive cricket once again.'' Wendell Smith, one of five guest players in the line-up, said that he was not surprised to hear that St. David's were intending to go into the final with the same players.

"Everybody has been performing well so you cannot argue with that,'' said Smith.

"Herbie Bascome bowled well against Flatts in the last round and did a superb job against Bailey's Bay in the first round and Anthony Foggo was brought in and he had a tremendous knock in the second round against Flatts. So it's a matter of everybody producing.'' While the decision to have Foggo replace Allen Richardson as Smith's opening partner in the last round may have stunned some people, the St. George's Cup Match skipper had no qualms about the move....even though he and Richardson entered the record books last year with an opening stand of 232 against Flatts.

"I don't call the shots and being a guest player, it's the skipper's decision. Both Anthony and Allen are quality openers, Oliver Pitcher is another who could do the job. Somebody has to drop down the batting order and it's the call of the skipper to determine who does,'' said Smith.

While St. David's jostle about with their excess of talent, Cleveland have to make do with what they have.

The Harris Bay side will give a county debuts to fast bowler Diallo Sharrieff and Carlton Smith while the rest of the side contains no surprises.

Peter Philpott will skipper his first county match, assisted by Aaron Adams, but veteran Allan Douglas will no doubt be called on to iron out the wrinkles should Cleveland get into a spot of bother.

The bowling attack will be led by Albert Simons with young Sharrieff, the brother-in-law of St. David's guest player James Pace, coming from the other end. Sharrieff finally appears in a county match after bad luck with injury.

Cleveland do have more balance in their bowling attack but success for them could be determined by how well Simons does early on.

If he can make a significant breakthrough then spinner Johnny Richardson, medium-pacer Corey Lowe and maybe skipper Philpott himself will have more to work with.

The following is Cleveland's team: Peter Philpott (capt.), Aaron Adams (vice-capt.), Allan Douglas, Grant Smith, Johnny Richardson, Wayne Smith, Albert Simons, Curtis Jackson, Corey Lowe, Diallo Sharrieff, Carlton Smith (colt). Reserves: Terry Smith, Gregory Talbot, Jr.

ANTHONY FOGGO -- Included in the St. David's batting line-up once again.