veteran all-round cricketer Noel Gibbons has officially announced that this will be his last year playing abroad and taking part in the Eastern Counties Cup for Bailey's Bay.

Gibbons wants to concentrate on coaching locally, which he says will prevent him from playing overseas.

His decision to quit county cricket is based on the fact that Bailey's Bay will host all of the Eastern County games this season and Gibbons wants to bow out on his home ground.

While he may play a few more league games for Bay, the 41-year-old says he is close to retiring altogether.

"This could very well be the last hurrah for me. I know it will be the end as far as playing abroad is concerned, and I know that I want to end my county days this year with my club hosting the competition,'' said the player who holds several county records.

"I feel this is the right time for me to come to these decisions. We have a few youngsters at Bay who deserve a shot at playing with the senior team now and I always said that I would be willing to give them the chance once they developed.'' Gibbons' tour next month will see him leading a World Select to the United Arab Emirates, South Africa and Zimbabwe, with the squad leaving England on May 2.

However, one of his personal highlights will be at the end of the trip in Zimbabwe when Gibbons will attend a two-week coaching course in order to become a qualified senior coach.

"I am looking forward to coaching,'' he added. "I always said that I would put something back into the game when I quit, and I intend to work hard with the youth at various levels.

"Like many others here, I find it exciting what (BCBC president) El James and his committee are doing. I congratulate them for bringing back the lost parts of cricket. By this I mean a good youth programme and the sponsorship that has been missing for too many years.'' Named skipper of the World Select for the first time, having toured with them several times as vice captain dating back to 1994, Gibbons will be in charge of several top international players.

Among those expected to tour are vice-captain Sanjay Mandrakar, Nikhil Haldipur and Atul Wassan of India; Yousuf Muhammad and Chamida Ataputtu of Pakistan; Rod Tucker of Australia and Mark Greatbatch who is a current national player with New Zealand.

Tour players from the West Indies and England have yet to be announced.