At a time when many cricketers his age ponder retiring from the sport, Dwayne (Sluggo) Leverock is about to take on a totally new challenge — giving back by way of coaching.

Undoubtedly one of the best leg spinners Bermuda has ever produced, Leverock is now keen on teaching his craft to the Island’s up-and-coming cricketers.

“I’ve thought about coaching on a full-time basis once my career is finished to help out our young bowlers and give them the knowledge and experience that I have playing at this top level,” the veteran cricketer said yesterday.

“I want to try and help our youngsters to qualify for the next World Cup because I think they can benefit from my experience. I think we need to bring more young gentlemen to the forefront to be able to teach them the art of bowling spin because you might have youngsters who want to learn how to spin, but don’t have the necessary direction to be able to learn.”

Life for Leverock, meanwhile, appears to have returned to some degree of normalcy since his bowling heroics in a World Cup warm-up match against England in St.Vincent earlier this month. The Bermuda policeman catapulted to stardom after collecting the prized scalps of English batsmen Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood to finish with impressive figures of two for 32 off his allotted ten overs.

And although the 35-year-old cricketer has found wickets hard to come by so far in Trinidad, he is still determined to give it his best and fulfill his duties as a member of the team.

“Sometimes you have to bowl for the team and not just for stats or self. Trying to help the team win is more important than just bowling for stats. But this is a great experience playing with the guys,” Leverock said.

“We are all team members and so just to be playing as a team is a wonderful experience in itself and something you will always cherish in your life. I’ve always dreamed of something like this, and now my dreams have come true.”

Bermuda’s World Cup debut hasn’t quite gone as planned as heavy losses to Sri Lanka and India inside the last week have all but put paid to the Island’s hopes of advancing to the next round of the tournament.

Nevertheless, Leverock and his team-mates feel they still have a point to prove against Bangladesh in their final Group B preliminary match on Sunday at Queen’s Park Oval.

“We are a bit disappointed, but we are still going to give 150 percent in the last game,” he said. “We always hold our heads high because we are playing against guys who play cricket day in and day out. And I think we are giving a good account of ourselves representing our country.”

As for his overnight fame, Leverock said: “I am just a down to earth person who likes to keep my feet on the ground. It’s all good that people say I am famous or some celebrity, but in actual fact I am just a simple person enjoying the moment.”

Leverock claimed his first World Cup wicket against India at the Oval earlier this week. But that achievement would be overshadowed by his record-breaking 44-run ninth-wicket partnership with Glamorgan skipper David Hemp that lifted Bermuda to a more respectable total.

“I was just trying to help the team bat out the overs. But people seem to forget that I was a batsman first and just a part time bowler,” Leverock said. “You could say the roles have now been reversed whereas I’m now bowling more and batting less. But my technique has never left me.”