Just as he announced his arrival into the Cup Match arena some 23 years ago, St.George's' skipper Charlie Marshall bowed out of the classic in a blaze of glory . . . well almost.

In 1980, a teenaged Marshall blasted a memorable unbeaten century (100) at Wellington Oval, which until late on Thursday afternoon had stood as the highest individual score ever made by a colt.

Yesterday, the veteran player came a full circle by scoring 134 runs, the highest score of the match, to join an exclusive club of players who have scored two centuries in Cup Match.

And if that wasn't enough, Marshall, along with with Clay Smith, established a new record for the fourth- wicket partnership worth 212 runs, the second highest stand ever recorded in Cup Match history.

After watching the 2003 classic fizzle out to an inevitable draw, Marshall, head held high, gracefully bowed out of the annual classic to take his rightful place in Cup Match folklore.

“I had two personal goals. One, to enter into the 1,000 run club and also to score another century at Wellington Oval,” said an emotional Marshall yesterday. “I started off with a century, and I wanted end with a century. It was just unfortunate we couldn't win the cup.”

Marshall moved onto 1,044 runs in the classic, the second player to amass four figures, some 99 runs shy of all-time leader Wendell Smith who scored 1,143 runs. Marshall insisted he won't be back to try and break his former team-mate's record.

“Wendell is a good friend of mine and even if I would have gotten closer to his record, then I would've walked off the field,” he said. “I won't be back. The body can handle it for another five years, but I think I want to finish up in St.George's, and this is the year to do it.”

Overall, Marshall said he was satisfied with his Cup Match career.

“It's been a joy,” he said. “I have played with some great cricketers such as Lionel Thomas, Neville Darrell and Clarence Parfitt (former St.George's' players) . . . these are some of the guys who guided me through.

“Then I came up with Wendell (Smith) and Clevie (Wade) and it was an honour to play with some of these younger guys who are around today. I'm just going to sit back and make room for the younger players coming through because it was very difficult to pick this team this year. And after leaving such talent out like OJ Pitcher and a few other young players . . . it was very, very difficult.”

Asked where he intended on playing out the remainder of his career, Marshall replied: “Right now I'm just going to enjoy this year and continue on playing for St.George's and hopefully we can finish in the top four and qualify for the Belco Cup. And then I'll decide what I'm going to do later . . . whether to remain here or move onto Bailey's Bay.”