Bailey's Bay lifted the suspensions on ex-skipper Stephen Outerbridge and veteran bowler Cory Hill last night following a tense three-hour meeting between administrators and –players.

The pair had been slapped with lengthy bans following comments they made to the media regarding the withdrawal of St David's from this year's Eastern Counties Cup.

In retaliation the Bailey's Bay team had threatened to boycott Saturday's match against Cleveland, and had refused to train this week until the matter was resolved.

Representatives from both sides sat down with a mediator, the former president Stephen Outerbridge, at 7.30pm last night, and finally emerged from a highly charged meeting at just after 10.30 p.m with an agreement that looked anything but a short-term solution.

At several points last night the meeting was broken up as people stormed out and had to be coaxed back in. While the sight of the younger Outerbridge angrily waving a cane in the direction of Chris Smith, and of Smith drawing his thumb across his throat, said everything about the animosity that exists between these two sides.

In the end, a clearly emotional Kent Gibbons, the Bay club secretary, would only say: "The Bailey's Bay Cricket Club team will be playing on Saturday, the normal team, and that is all I have to say at this time."

Players too, refused to comment, only remarking as they left the club: "We've won". Although whether either group has actually won remains to be seen.

Certainly the fact that they will play on Saturday can be considered a minor victory, but it is merely the latest act in an increasingly fractious argument between the two groups who at one stage yesterday looked hopeless deadlocked.

Gibbons' reference to 'the normal team' in his statement was made after the club had asked Charlie Marshall to try and raise a Guest XI in the event that an agreement could not be reached.

Marshall is believed to have contacted the likes of Dennis Trott, Jermaine Warner, Andre Manders and Glenn Blakeney, in his efforts to help the club.

However, the current team found out about this prior to last night's discussions, something that only added to an meeting –already bubbling over with ill-feeling.

Smith, who was part of the disciplinary committee that handed down the original suspensions, is believed to have threatened to resign at the beginning of the week when an appeals committee quashed them.

That committee performed a U-turn, reducing the punishment to a three-match ban. However, the players refused to accept this, having already been told the bans had been lifted.

It was under these circumstances that the two sides tried to find common ground last night. And the reprecussions from the meeting are likely to be felt well into next year.

The players, who all pay to play for Bailey's Bay, and, unlike some Premier Division clubs, aren't paid to play, feel badly let down by the administrators.

One player pointed out the squad's belief that the club would not exist without a team, and questioned what would happen if the players decided to form their own side next season.

The club executive meanwhile feel that there needs to be a level of discipline within the club, although they admit that the situation was badly dealt with from the start.

Supporters too had their say yesterday, and several cornered the players as they sat at the ground not training. One demanded to know what they thought they were doing, and questioned if they had thought about the fans at all.

Out of all of this Bay must find a way to beat Cleveland on Saturday. But even if they do so, the ill-feeling and the animosity will remain. And it is hard to see how the current executive, and current squad can continue to co-exist at the same club.