This Cup Match will be my last and hopefully my most memorable.

I will be officially retiring at Somerset on Friday and will no doubt take many fond memories with me. As a player I have totally enjoyed the challenges over the years and truthfully, if my knee was in better shape, I would play for many more years.

I can clearly remember my first Cup Match at Somerset when I was 16-years-old. I was confident, eager, and hungry for success.

However, it was a humbling experience which, in actual fact, helped mould me for the Cup Match's to come.

I left Somerset crying that year and I will probably leave Somerset crying in this my last – simply because this is a game that I love, that I am passionate about, and that I respect tremendously. This is a game that is filled with Bermuda history and tradition.

Over the years of Cup Match I have had several fond memories but one stands out more than others.

Scoring my third hundred in Somerset will always go down as my best and most memorable as I became the first player to score three hundreds in Cup Match. To make it even more special and memorable, I would never forget scoring my one hundredth run as I ran to the southern end of Somerset to be greeted by my daughter, Hailey, who was the first to reach me. The look on her face will live with me forever.

Not to be biased, I also have one memory that I would like to forget and that was becoming part of the 'Double Duck Club' along with greats like Noel Gibbons and Charlie Marshall.

On my home field in St.George's, I clearly remember being given out lbw for nought in my second innings and crying before I could even get into the changing room. Cup Match has made many men cry and will make many more cry in the future.

I will take with me a few records, but there is one that has defeated me and that is becoming the first player to score a double-century.

I find it amazing that in as many years that Cup Match has been played no batsman has scored a double-century. Yes, it will take something special but it is definitely achievable.

OJ Pitcher and Chris Douglas, I believe, are two players who in the future years could go on and achieve this feat as they both have the mental ability and technical ability to do so.

Mind you, can rest assured that if I get set this year and have the time for it I will definitely give it a go, but I am a team player and would never ask for a personal goal to come before a team goal.

I want to thank both Somerset and St. George's fans for their support over the last 20 years. My battles with 'Sluggo' will be sorely missed.

The jeering from the Somerset players will surely be missed.

Personally, there is one thing that stands out in my mind more than any other and that is seeing my president, Mr. Neil Paynter, in the changing room crying his eyes out after every Cup Match.

I thought no one else in Bermuda had passion for the game like I do but he is definitely close. Every time I see him at Cup Match it reminds me of just how important Cup Match is to St. George's people.

In addition, I want to thank St.George's Cricket Club selectors, executives and fans for giving me this one last opportunity to do you proud. As we know, this is cricket and I could go to Somerset and get out first ball or I could go there and get 200, but regardless of what I do it is important that the game is played in the right spirit and that we as a country do not lose focus of the real reason we have Cup Match.

Note: Special thanks to my brother Wendell and best friend Dean, for all the days and hours of training. Also a special thanks to my brother Ray. You are gone but not forgotten, this one is for you. Also special thanks to my family for their continued love and support. Lastly, but most importantly, I would like to thank the Lord, for he has blessed me time and time again.

Motto for the week: I started in Somerset a champion and I will finish in Somerset a champion – Clay Smith.