The first cup final of the cricket season takes place on Sunday when Hannan Law Crosby take on Baker Tilly Isle of Man Cronkbourne at Mullen-e-Cloie.

Traditionally, the Blincoe Cup was played between the island’s second-tier mid-week teams.

It is now more of a first-team contest played in a different format from the Tinker Cup.

The game consists of four innings (two per side), with the team which bats second, also required to bat the third time round, before the team which batted first, bats last. Got that? Easy, really!

Personally, I used to hate the format, but these days I find that the additional requirement for eight separate bowlers to bowl two eight-ball overs can be a great leveller and exciting games can ensue.

Some of Cronkbourne’s younger players, such as Nathan Knights, Corbin Liebenberg and Sam Mills are away in the Netherlands with the senior Isle of Man squad.

This may open the door for Crosby to secure a rare win against Cronkbourne.

Batsmen such as Harry Rothwell, who scored 47 in the semi-final against Finch Hill, and Hemanath Vyas, who can score quickly, should enable Crosby to set a decent target if asked to bat first.

The tight canny bowling by the veteran Gareth Rowlands may also frustrate the Cronkbourne batsmen.

Cronkbourne may miss the powerful hitting of Knights and the fast bowling of Mills but they still have some notable players in the club.

Veteran, Carl Mellors, has been in fine form recently with the bat, including a century against Crosby.

Their young bowlers, such as Ben Johnston, Stuart Mellors and Ben Haworth can cause some fearsome problems for any island team.

Johnston took five wickets last weekend and Stuart has started to take wickets to back up the excellent line that he usually bowls.

Hopefully, this will be an exciting and close contest for the first final of the 2018 season.

Finches close in on title

Newfield Castletown play Ramsey Crookall Finch Hill at KWC on Saturday in one of the last weekend games of the second-tier Division One season.

Victory will see Finch Hill scoop the Division One title, but they will be without the Beard brothers and two of the Burrows boys.

Castletown should be able to select from a full squad and I would expect them to take the 20 points on offer.

Finally, Sunday sees the Callin Wild Development XI meet CTH Insurance Ramsey.

Ramsey struggled to get a team out last weekend and had to concede against Finch Hill.

The northerners may be able to call upon some of the Valkyres players who played for Ramsey last year, now that the former side has finished its games.

The powerful combination of Eddie Beard and George Burrows are not available for the Development team, so there should be some opportunities for young batsmen in the Development XI.

Ramsey should win this time and finish their season with a smile.

Andy Coulson