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St. Andrew and St. John provided the glorious atmosphere for a festival of cricket that seduced their visitors into meek submission yesterday.

The end result was a trip to town for Carib Conrad Hunte of St. Andrew and their East Coast neighbours, Pine Hill Dairy St. John Cultural, for the final of the Barbados Fire and Commercial Shield competition.

The two teams will meet in a beer and juice showdown at Queen's Park, possibly on August 1.

Conrad Hunte created a mild upset when they knocked out last year's winners BRC by 38 runs at Shorey Village, while St. John Cultural outlasted the younger legs of the Barbados Defence Force Sports Progammme by the comfortable margin of five wickets at Gall Hill.

Large crowds at both venues provided a noisy, but wonderful backdrop for a Carnival-like afternoon that proved a welcome advertisement for ``country cricket''.

Match reports:

Conrad Hunte (229-8) beat BRC (191) by 38 runs

Louis Linton at Shorey Village

Opening batsman Dale Richards illuminated the picturesque surroundings of his home club with a sparkling century that sent Carib Conrad Hunte into the final.

The 22-year-old Richards struck a run-a-ball 115 in his side's 38-run victory over defending champions BRC.

Richards, who played briefly for St. Catherine in Division 1 a few seasons ago, enjoyed himself against a threadbare attack, smashing eight sizes and five fours.

Most of his sixes disappeared over the long-on boundary into the crowd.

Man-Of-The-Match Richards and his opening partner, Anderson Headley, strode to the crease after Conrad Hunte were sent in to bat and immediately stamped their authority on the game with a stand of 85 in 19 overs.

Headley was caught by Michael Hinds on the long-on boundary off Arnold Gilkes for 20, but that didn't stop the flow of runs. Sherlock Ramsey joined Richards and kept the crowd alive with lusty hitting in adding 78.

Such was the dominance of Richards that when he was third out, bowled by Gilkes in the 33rd over, his 115 was scored out of 175.

John Vaughan struck two fours and two sixes in a quick-fire 26 as Conrad Hunte closed out with an imposing total.

It didn't look good for the titlists when they lost three wickets for 38 runs. The experienced pair of Emerson King and Gilkes revived the situation somewhat with a stand of 52 for the fourth wicket, but once Gilkes was bowled by Ju Best playing a crooked shot, the fat lady was already humming.

King was out for a polished 49 off 52 balls and Orlando Greaves followed soon after for 31, which effectively meant that the men of steel had melted.

Leg-spinner Lawrence Leacock was the chief wrecker with five wickets for 34 runs.