Just like he did at the start of the season, Treadwell Gibbons Jr will be back in Western Stars colours in the Champion of Champions final set for St John’s Field on Sunday.

Gibbons, who played for Stars in the season-opening Twenty20 tournament before joining Cleveland County on a late transfer, will be their guest player, along with Somerset Cricket Club’s Joshua Gilbert.

Gibbons also turned out for Stars in the Central Counties, helping them to retain the title with victory over North Village in the final. Champion of Champions rules do not permit players to play for two teams, thus ruling out Dion Stovell as a guest player for Stars because he will play for Southampton Rangers against Bailey’s Bay in the semi-final on Saturday.

Stovell played for Stars in the Central Counties this season and confirmed this week he will be returning to Rangers after two seasons with league champions St David’s.

He was the hero in the Champion of Champions final at Southampton Oval last year, smashing 137 for Rangers against St David’s.

Rangers can expect a tough match against Bay who thrashed them by 153 runs in the Premier Division in July, avenging a season-opening three-wicket loss at Sea Breeze Oval.

Bay all-rounders Malachi Jones and Derrick Brangman are both former Rangers players.

Gibbons’s inclusion for Stars will fill the void left by batsman Tre Manders, who has returned to Britain. Rangers, the Champion of Champions title holders, finished third in the league and Bay second, with Arnold Manders, the Stars coach, expecting a tough game in the final either way.

“They are two of the top three teams this season so it doesn’t make a difference which one we get, they all have match-winners,” said Manders, whose team finished fourth for the second straight season.

“For the goals we set at the beginning of the season, we have accomplished two of the three: retaining the Central Counties and finishing in the top four in the Premier Division.

“The last one is trying to win the Champion of Champions. If we win it we will have accomplished all of our goals, but we still have a lot of work to do.

“Most of the players now understand what it’s going to take to get better.

“It’s been a rough year and we’ve got through it, accomplishing most of our goals, so I’m fairly pleased with that.”

Both the semi-final and final will start at 10am.

* The Warrington “Soup” Zuill memorial match between Bermuda Masters and Jamaican Association, scheduled for Saturday at Lord’s, has been cancelled because the Jamaican Association were unable to field a team.

Yesterday was the ninth anniversary of the passing of Zuill, a former sports administrator and historian.

* The Bermuda Cricket Board prize presentation will be held on November 4 at Gosling’s Wine Cellar.