I have been privileged to have captained, coached or played with some of the most talented players to grace the cricket fields of Bermuda. This year’s first legend falls into that category. Without a doubt one of the finest all-rounders Bermuda has seen, he was, and still is, someone with a deep love for the game.

Although blessed with natural talent, like many others of his era, he maximised his potential through hard work. Today’s cricketers would do well to copy such work ethic.

Name: Alfred Noel Gibbons

Born: December 1, 1955

Start in cricket: As a youth, I played at the Francis Patton School and in the neighbourhood. I use to play in Claytown with my brother David and ‘Nick’ Hollis. There was a little area there where we would play our “Test matches”.

Senior introduction: My first game for Bailey’s Bay was at the age of 11. I played with the second XI in a match against Devonshire Rec. I scored 11 not out. My cousin, Greg Outerbridge, had just got struck in the head and I had to come in next. What a way to make my introduction to senior cricket. I played my first county match at the age of 13 against Flatts, in St David’s. I only scored two runs and was one of ‘Fleas’ Hall’s victims. I believe that was in 1969. Flatts won the match that year.

Role in the team: I began my career as a wicketkeeper and did this until the mid-Seventies. However, during a county game in St David’s, a bail struck me in the eye and that ended my career as a keeper.

Childhood memories: In the neighbourhood, we played lots of cricket. We would use a trash can or anything useful, like a box, for the wicket. My father, Ambrose Outerbridge, made us the bats.

Teams played for: Bailey’s Bay, St George’s Cup Match, SICL selects, Bermuda selects, Bermuda, Halesowen, Burkhurshill, Atherstone, Balmain and a Rest of the World Select, which I had the good fortune to captain during one season.

Nicknames: Gibbo and Manga (Gregory “Brutus” Foggo gave Noel that moniker after watching him devour about six mangos in a changing room one Cup Match).

Favourite local match you played in: Probably a match against Devonshire Rec. one year. We had some real battles with them. On this occasion, they knocked us down for 58. We turned around and dismissed them for 53. The very next year, we once again dismissed them cheaply, rolling them over for 53. However, we could only muster up 48.

Best international feat: I scored 128 against Hong Kong during the 1982 ICC Trophy tournament.

Favourite venue: I always enjoyed playing at Somerset Cricket Club and St David’s. Overseas, it would have to be Eden Gardens in Calcutta. I played there with the Rest of the World Select and the match was stopped for about an hour after a Pakistani bloke who was on our team bounced an Indian player. As I stood on the boundary, bottles were raining on to the ground. Imran Khan had to come on to the field and restore order so that the match could continue.

Favourite international player: Wasim Akram. I never did meet him in person.

No 1 supporter: My mother. She attended many of my matches.

Pre-match routine: On Friday evenings, I made a point to clean my gear. This entailed cleaning my bat, wiping down my pads, ironing the whites and packing my gear bag, starting from my feet and working my way up to my head. There was no way I would be at a match and not have an article of clothing. As I lived 20 yards from the ocean, I would have and in and out deep, then have a good breakfast of steak and eggs that my mom would prepare for me. I would get to the match venue early, warm up, then relax.

Favourite dish while playing: I never was really a lunch person at matches. If I did eat, it was probably a salad.

Biggest regrets in your career: Not pursuing my career further in England. Noel had stints at second XI level with Worcestershire and Warwickshire. However, in those days, they Imran Khan and Alvin Kallicharran playing for them. With the restriction of one overseas professional per team, there was no way I was going to oust either of those two.

My other regret would be that I played with three Bermuda ICC teams that came within one match of making the World Cup. The 1979 team lost out to Canada, the 1982 team lost out to Zimbabwe and in 1994, it was the Kenyans.

Any superstitions: Yeah. After I scored an 80-odd and a 60-odd one Cup Match, I wore that same pair of underpants I used for that Classic, in every game after that. If I was playing in a two-day game, or had back-to-back matches on the weekend, I would take those underpants home and wash them for the next day. Unfortunately, I believe, one of my Bay team-mates eventually took them or threw them in the trash.

Funniest thing you have seen in cricket: Anyone who has played cricket with Terry Burgess has had some good laughs. He was the team clown. He would always remind me after games not to forget to take my underwear home and wash them.

Hobbies: Fishing.

A key to your success: Dedication, training hard and my love for the game. I enjoyed training. I believe this is a problem today.

Advice to today’s cricketer: If you are going to do something, put your heart into it, be dedicated to it and work hard at it. Don’t train in a halfway manner.

Motto you believe in: Let your sporting ability help you to see the world.

Noel has the distinction of playing in the Double Wicket tournament with Sir Garfield Sobers.

Noel was a true all-rounder. My abiding thoughts about his game include that he was one of the very few players who could play, and did play, all the strokes. He had a distinctive on drive, with a back leg kick, and a classy, delicate late cut.

During the Eighties and early Nineties, at this time of the year one could find Albert Steede running along South Shore Road, or Andre Manders along Wilkinson Avenue. Clay Smith would be endlessly hitting tennis balls at six in the morning, Charlie Marshall would run through the town of St George’s around by Tobacco Bay and back to Wellington Oval, Graham Fox, although requested to run two laps as a pre-training routine, would run six to ten laps, Dexter Smith, while everyone was sitting on the wall consuming water after training, would continue on with crunches and laps. And yes, Noel Gibbons, although hugely blessed talent wise, ran the Causeway.

As I indicated earlier, it was a blessing to play with and against such players. Unfortunately today, I see few, if any, cricketers doing their “extras”. To have talent, and combine this with a strong work ethic is a formula for success. Noel Gibbons recognised this and can look back on his career and know that he gave his all to the game he loves.