Manchester High and Excelsior High are both chock-full of confidence heading into the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association all-island Spalding Cup play-off cricket match at Melbourne Oval in St Andrew.

The scheduled three-day encounter will begin this morning.

Manchester High, guided by veteran coach Barry Barnes, claimed the rural area Grace Headley Cup after a commanding 140-run win over parish rivals May Day High in the final at Manchester High in Mandeville nearly two weeks ago.

Excelsior High, under the leadership of Head Coach Kirkland Bailey, were even more dominant in the urban area equivalent, walloping St Jago High by a massive 420 runs to win the Grace Shield at Sabina Park in Kingston late last month.

Both teams have since underlined their supremacy by winning the respective urban and rural schoolboy Twenty20 titles.

Barnes told the Jamaica Observer that Manchester High are ready for battle against a “well-balanced” Excelsior outfit.

“The Manchester High boys are playing extremely well, they are a talented bunch, they are confident, and they are not depending on any particular individual,” he said.

“The Excelsior team is a well-balanced one, a team full of national players at both Under-19, Under-17, and Under-15 levels. We know we are going up against a quality team, but we are playing well and I expect a good game. I expect the boys from both Manchester and Excelsior will give a good show of themselves,” Barnes added.

Clifton Bailey, the Excelsior High assistant coach, suggested the current group is peaking at the right time even as he recognised the threat posed by Manchester.

“We are brimming with confidence and we think this is our year to definitely get it done. But I expect it to be a tightly contested game because we both have national youth players,” he said.

He noted that having the play-off match hosted at Melbourne as opposed to a rural area venue should be a plus for his team.

“We are looking forward to the challenge and we are happy it is being played in [the urban area] this year,” said the Excelsior assistant coach.