'Great' captain stands down

AFTER six seasons in charge and eight ICC overseas campaigns, Stuart Le Prevost's reign as senior island cricket captain and player has come to an end.

The highly-popular Cobo batsman has played an integral role as Guernsey made significant advances on the ICC calendar, but at the age of 35 and with a young family he has informed Nic Pothas, the new director of cricket, he will not be available in 2013.

'I feel it is the right time in my life and career, with family, work and things,' he said.

'But it is down to lots of things really,' he added.

Jeremy Frith, a good friend and the only player to have surpassed Le Prevost's 1,480 runs in senior island colours at an average of 34.4, paid this tribute to the retiring captain.

'He has been absolutely outstanding on all levels – as a captain, a player and a general bloke,' he said.

'He will be sorely missed in the team.

'Stu brought together various opinions and always was happy to listen to people. He was always very good at getting knowledge from his teammates and a straightforward type of person to deal with.'

The departing captain said he had spoken at length to Pothas before announcing his decision.

'There are a lot of new exciting youngsters coming through and it will be a nice chance for Nic to start with a new captain and do what he wants to do.'

Le Prevost has been an ever-present in the island team since making his debut in 1997.

In 16 matches against Jersey he scored 477 runs and averaged a shade under 37.

He took over as captain from Andy Biggins in 2007 and after two defeats in that role, led the Greens to a hat-trick of wins before losing last year's game at Grainville.