They are unquestionably four of the top teams in local cricket, but predicting a winner from this weekend's Camel Cup matches will not be easy.

There is little to gauge from early-season results and for that reason there will be no clear-cut favourites amongst today's semifinalists -- cup-holders Western Stars, Devonshire Rec., St. George's and Bailey's Bay.

Even picking winners from the semifinals -- Stars against Rec at Southampton Oval and St. George's against Bay at Devonshire Rec. field -- is not easy to do.

Rec. have probably been the least impressive of the four teams so far, with St. George's and Stars at least having handed Cleveland and Willow Cuts their first losses of the season.

Bay's claim to fame is the fact that they have won all five of their league and knockout matches so far, though to put that into perspective they still have not played any of the top teams.

As far as the Camel Cup goes, the four teams participating this year are the most successful in the brief history of the tournament. St. George's and Devonshire have each won the cup three times, having been in three and four finals respectively, while Stars were the other winners last year -- after four appearances in the final.

Bay have yet to win the title, having been in three finals, which they lost to Devonshire Rec and St. George's in 1987 and '88 when the competition was known as the Premier Cup and against last year when Stars dismissed them for the lowest total in a final -- 101.

The Camel Cup has traditionally been the first piece of silverware up for grabs in a season and the teams will be hoping to have peaked at the right time.

The argument has long gone on between Stars and St. George's as to who are the best team in limited overs competition, Stars making their claim by beating St. George's on their way to winning the Camel Cup for the first time, before the east-enders gained revenge with wins in the league and knockout, which they won.

As first and second-place finishers in the standings last season, the teams have avoided each other in the semifinals today, keeping alive the prospect of a Stars-St. George's final. However, either match-up should be exciting, as Devonshire are capable of stopping their Central Counties opponents while Bay will be a strong challenge for St. George's.

Both St. George's and Bay will be missing key players, with the league champions having to do without Clay Smith and Dean Minors and Bay fending for themselves without veteran Noel Gibbons.

The top of the St. George's order has been weakened with the absence of former captain Wendell Smith, who is out injured, and his younger brother Clay who is playing in England and the opening spot is one of their problem areas.

Clevie Wade adds some experience to the middle order but he is not the dominant batsman he once was, while Ricky Hodsoll has been solid since moving up to number four, replacing captain Graham Fox who has filled the number three spot vacated by Clay Smith.

Last weekend against Social Club, Bay's batting looked vulnerable and their hopes of a big total today will hinge on the likes of captain Chris Smith, their most consistent batsman so far, Ricky Hill, Charlie Marshall and Clarkie Darrell.

Glenn Smith has had trouble getting time off from work to play and he looks likely to miss today's semifinals against St. George's.

It promises to be an exciting final tomorrow at St. David's regardless of the match-up. All matches are 50 overs starting at noon.