When 15-year old Somerset colt Joshua Gilbert strolls onto the Wellington Oval pitch on Thursday he will become the youngest player to play in Cup Match.

The Berkeley Institute student is a day younger than the classic's previous youngest player, Tre Govia, who debuted as a colt for St. George's at the same age last year at Somerset Cricket Club.

Gilbert's ascent in the game has been nothing short of meteoric having earned a place in Cup Match in only his second full-season at the senior domestic level.

Cricket runs deep through the teenager's veins as he is the nephew of ex-Somerset skipper Joe Bailey and Bermuda Cricket Board (BCB) president Edward Bailey, one of five Bermudians recently honoured by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for their contributions to the local game.

He is also a cousin of former St. George's great, Rupert Scotland, who along with Lee Raynor produced the classic's highest partnership (229) for the sixth wicket at Somerset in 1974.

Despite his tender years Gilbert already has considerable international experience having represented Bermuda at various youth levels. He also formed an integral part of an ICC Americas Development XI that competed at last year's Clico Under-15 Tournament in the West Indies.

The off break spinner beat out rival spinners Tamauri Tucker and Hasan Durham for a place in Somerset's team this year and he has now set his sights on bowling the West Enders to their first victory in the East End in nearly three decades.

The last time Somerset triumphed at Wellington Oval was in 1981 under the captaincy of the teenager's uncle, Joe Bailey.

"It would be nice if Somerset can break the jinx. I think they can do it, but it's going to take a total team effort. Everybody will have to play their part," Bailey told The Royal Gazette.

The ex- Somerset skipper said never doubted his nephew would break into Cup Match this year. And he also singled out Gilbert's father, Gregory, and Somerset selector Winston Reid as two of the biggest influences on the promising all-rounder's budding career.

"I am very proud of Joshua. He is very commited to his cricket, club, parish and country. He has lots of potential and will continue to develop as he goes along," Bailey added.

"He is very mature for his age and my advice to him going into Cup Match is to try and keep a steady head and do the best you can. Joshua has trained very hard this year and deserved to get picked in Somerset's team.

"He may be a little nervous in the beginnng but I'm sure he'll settle down as the game goes on and put his best foot forward."

Going into last weekend's final trial, Gilbert commented: "I am feeling pretty confident this year of either breaking into the team or being named as a reserve. And there is no pressure on me because I know I can handle it.

"I have been drinking a lot of water, reading cricket books and watching cricket on TV to try and keep myself focussed on cricket as much as I possibly can."

Gilbert is one of two Bermuda Under-19 players named as colts in Somerset's team, the other being all-rounder Deunte Darrell who St. George's coach Clay Smith rates highly.

Meanwhile, St. George's pair, Charlie Marshall and Lionel Cann, are on the verge of achieving personal milestones of their own this year.

Marshall, Cup Match's most senior player at 48, can surpass Cal (Bummy) Symonds' record for the most catches (24) while Cann (796) needs only four more runs to become the fifth St. George's batsman to score 800 runs in the match.

Marshall, who debuted as a 19 -year old colt at Wellington Oval in 1980, is the classic's all-time leading run-getter with 1,338 runs and the first colt to score a century (100) on his debut.

No other player in Cup Match's 107-year history has made more appearances than Marshall (25) whose 24 catches in the classic has him currently tied with legendary St.George's skipper Symonds.