over the Camel Cup hump in 1993 and this year aim to once again find their way to the oasis that is reserved for champions.

However, the reigning Central Counties cup holders face a path littered with booby traps and pitfalls, the first being tomorrow's semifinal opponent and bitter rivals Devonshire Rec. The game is at Southampton Oval.

Twice in the last three years have the men from Devonshire scuttled Stars' dreams of the title and again seek to be the bearer of bad tidings tomorrow.

Newly-elected Stars' skipper Arnold Manders yesterday expressed optimism regarding his team's chances against Devonshire, coming off a good win last Sunday against previously unbeaten Willow Cuts.

"We beat them (Devonshire) in the Central Counties but they beat us in the league game at the Rec (last year), which was our first league loss in three years, a controversial loss,'' said Manders, who scored 54 and took two wickets during last year's final triumph against Bailey's Bay. "It's a rivalry that's been there for a while.

"The win against Willow Cuts was a most definite boost, one that was needed and it came at the right time, because we were slipping behind in the league on points.'' Indeed, the men of St. John's Road appear to be rounding into form following their debacle against Cleveland at Sea Breeze Oval nearly three weeks ago.

It was a rude awakening for Stars as they were dismissed for a paltry 38 runs, batting first on a wet wicket deemed by many observers to be unsuitable for a match. Cleveland won by seven wickets, which served as a wake-up call for Manders and his men.

"You can't take anything away from Cleveland, but any team batting first on that day was in trouble and it happened to be us,'' continued Manders.

"(Since then) unity has been the key because we haven't had our own way. I'm very pleased with the progress we've made in the fielding and bowling, but our batting needs to be picked up a bit.'' Their fielding, though, is sure to suffer with the sure-handed Cleon Scotland scheduled to be overseas for his sister's graduation.

Scotland's absence should pave the way for the return of fast bowler Allan Brangman, who has yet to bowl an over this season. He would add to an arsenal already containing brother Gary and Roger Leverock along with the trio of Manders, Hassan Durham and Wayne Richardson.

While the middle order batsmen have proven an adventure thus far, openers Treadwell Gibbons and Gregory Sampson showed themselves to be capable with a stand of 93 against Cuts, scoring at a rate of a run a ball.

Yet the match appears evenly balanced, something emphasised by the closeness of the pair in the Premier League standings where Devonshire lie fifth with Stars a notch below.

Devonshire Rec. skipper Anthony Edwards and vice-captain Albert Steede could not be reached for comment but the team obviously goes into the game on a high note after coming away with two league victories at the weekend.

On Saturday they defeated Flatts by eight wickets with Steede leading the way when he opened the innings with 54 not out, then on Sunday they followed that up with a two-wicket triumph over Somerset Bridge with former skipper Anthony Edwards and spinner Bruce Perinchief each taking three wickets.

Devonshire have long established themselves as a powerhouse in the competition with victories in 1987, 1991 and 1992 -- a record which proves that they will be anything but pushovers this time around.

The other semifinal at Devonshire Rec. has Bailey's Bay, losing finalist a year ago, taking on St. George's, who are not at all intimidated by Bay's five consecutive victories this season in league and knockout play.

"They have started the season off in good form and will probably be the favourites, but we are not concerned about that because we are confident that we can do well in this competition,'' said St. George's skipper Graham Fox.

"We have always had a lot of respect for a team like them. But I have a lot of faith in the players at St. George's and know that we can overcome any obstacle and probably beat them,'' he added.

Fox is hopeful that his team will be at full strength with the possibility of medium pace bowler Gregory Foggo returning after missing a few weeks through injury.

St. George's, also winners of the cup on three previous occasions, are not concerned about who they meet in the final -- if they win on Saturday.

"It's doesn't matter who we meet in the final, we just want to reach that far and hopefully win it all,'' noted Fox.

While there has not been a breakdown of talks, the long dispute between the Bermuda Cricket Board of Control and the Bermuda Cricket Umpires Association has not been resolved despite reports to the contrary on ZBM Television news on Wednesday evening.

Officials of both organisations revealed yesterday that there was still no settlement and that talks remained ongoing. There was no indication that an immediate settlement was about to take place.

The Bermuda Cricket Umpires Union, which has been sanctioned by the board, has named officials for the Camel Cup semifinals tomorrow and the final on Sunday.

CLEON SCOTLAND -- Western Stars' sure-handed sparkplug will be sorely missed in the field as he will be overseas attending his sister's graduation.