regain some of that former glory in the final of the Benson and Hedges Champion of Champions at White Hill field tomorrow (11 a.m. start).

The early 1980s saw Southampton at the peak of their dominance. With a team containing the prolific Colin Blades as well as brothers Sheridan and Lee Raynor together with cousin Eldon and a young John Tucker they won every trophy up for grabs in 1980 -- seven in all -- including their first Benson and Hedges title.

After successfully defending the cup in '81, Rangers lost much of their lustre with the departure and retirement of several veteran players and did not appear in another final until 1990 when they beat St. David's by 12 runs at St. John's field.

Sunday's match will pit them against the winners of today's semifinal involving St. David's and National Sports Club. Many believe it will be the islanders who emerge unscathed and enter the final.

Southampton player/coach Clevie Wade said that his men will be ready no matter, which team they meet.

"We're preparing hard and everyone is geared up and ready to go, said Wade, who will be appearing in his first Benson and Hedges competition. "There is no real preference as to who we play. St. David's appear stronger, but anything can happen on the day.'' This season the reigning Western Counties champions got off to a rocky start losing their first four matches before blasting out Flatts for 53 runs and winning by seven wickets. They currently lie ninth in the Open League standings and occupy the number five spot in the Green Division of the Limited Overs version.

"We've been hot and cold in spots,'' said Wade. "We started in a bad patch but I told the guys to have patience, hang in there and things should come around.

"Patience is the key to success. They have listened and we have been playing well lately.'' With this being of limited-overs format Wade stressed that the keys to victory will be the performance in the field. The bowling needs to be tight, they have to be active with their fielding and take advantage of any chances given by the batsmen.

Wade will have Ryan Belboda, Gary Williams, Stevie Lightbourne and Janeiro Tucker as his main bowlers with former skipper Olin Jones and Wade himself being called on to provide variation later on.

None of the Southampton batsmen have really set scoreboards alight thus far although Wade enjoyed a good run at the start of this season. But in Jones, Keith Wainwright and Lightbourne they could be a bomb waiting to explode.

Victory would also draw Rangers level with Devonshire Rec. for most wins -- four -- in the competition.

Said Wade: "Although not our sole reason for wanting to win, it would be a good compliment to win the tournament and get the same number of wins as Rec.

We just want to go out and win. It doesn't matter how we win and it would be a big bonus going into the rest of the season...especially with the (Western) County coming.

Eastern Counties representatives St. David's have included four guest players for today's match with Nationals.

League team bowlers Herbie Bascome and Scott Minors were both left out as the St. David's selectors named a strong batting line-up, which includes Wendell Smith of St. George's, Devonshire Rec. pair Albert Steede and James Pace and Cleveland spinner Del Hollis.

Team (in batting order): Wendell Smith, Allen Richardson, Oliver Pitcher, Albert Steede, Lionel Cann, James Pace, Dean Pitcher, Ken Pitcher, Del Hollis, Cecil Pitcher, Dale Fox. Reserves: Bruce Foggo, Herbie Bascome.