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Days after clearing Test cricket's 500-wicket mountain, Courtney Walsh is yet to say if retirement is on the horizon.

The great 38-year-old fast bowler returned to Jamaica to a hero's welcome on Thursday and kept the questioning media guessing about whether or not the current series against South Africa would be his last.

I haven't made any definite plans as yet, Walsh said. I am looking to play, if selected, the remainder of the Test matches (this series) and see what happens from there.

West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president Pat Rousseau, who was among the welcoming committee at Norman Manley International Airport, appeared to suggest that Walsh could consider going beyond the current series.

Rousseau said Walsh could claim another 30 or 40 wickets before calling in quits.

Notice, I didn't say in this series, he said with a laugh.

Asked by the media whether he had set any new goals such as 550, or even 600, wickets, Walsh replied: I'm just looking to play this Test series and get as many as I can.

He said he had set the final Test in Jamaica on April 19-23 as a benchmark. But he added: I don't think I should do anything in the middle of the series that could detract from it.

It's a very keenly contested series (and) I will wait until the end of the series, he said.

Tourism and Sport Minister Portia Simpson-Miller headed the welcoming party at the airport. Later, Walsh paid courtesy calls on Governor- General Sir Howard Cooke, Prime Minister Percival Patterson and Opposition Leader Edward Seaga.

Walsh claimed his 500th wicket during his six for 61 performance in South Africa's second innings of the second Test at the Queen's Park Oval.

© The Barbados Nation