St Elizabeth Technical's top batsman, Paul Palmer Jr. - File

St Elizabeth Technical (STETHS) and Manchester High will square off in Santa Cruz tomorrow for their third straight rural cricket final in three years.

Their matchup will decide which is the best rural schoolboy cricket team. In their run-up to the final, STETHS defeated Newell High, Godfrey Stewart High, Cornwall College, Munro College, and in the semi-finals, got past Holmwood Technical.

Manchester have been similarly potent, getting past Knox College, Vere Technical, Old Harbour High and in the semi-finals, the highly touted Charlemont High. The match-up is keenly anticipated and cricket fans could well be in for another exciting contest if either team reports in the same form which produced a heart-stopping run chase last year. In that final, STETHS got home by seven runs in fading light at Manchester's home field in Mandeville.

STETHS and their coach, Clive Legister, are confident they will get another victory. "Our formula has not changed," Legister told STAR Sports yesterday.

"We stick to basic cricket. Remember, you are dealing with youngsters, so we keep it simple and consistent," the STETHS coach said.

Legister is not perturbed by the failure of top batsman Paul Palmer Jr to get among the runs in the last two games.

"We have batting up to number nine, so that is not a big concern for us. If there is any concern, it is that our openers have not been getting strong starts."

Bowling should revolve around spin, where the combination of Horane Linton, Donovon Nelson and Cassius Burton Jr has prevented all opponents so far from making more than 130 or batting their quota of 35 overs.

For Manchester's coach, Barry Barnes, the approach will be positive, especially in batting, where the team is very strong. The leading batsmen are Oshane Walters, Courtney Allen, Sherdan Allen, Terrence Dixon and all-rounder Leighton Leslie.

"I have prepared the guys to play hard and to be positive. We don't plan to play a wait-and-see game. They are the champions, and we have nothing to lose."