Everton Weekes, the last surviving member of the famous three ‘Ws’ formed by him, Frank Worrell and Clyde Walcott, passed away on Wednesday at the age of 95. Worrell had breathed his last in 1967 and Walcott in 2006. All three of them, born a few kilometres apart in Barbados, had made their Test debuts for West Indies in 1948.
The legendary Weekes, who was hailed as one of greatest batsmen in the 40s and 50s, had an illustrious Test career.
Weekes made his Test debut at the age of 22 against England at Kensington Oval. His final match was against Pakistan in Trinidad a decade later.
In his career, Weekes played 48 test matches and made 4,455 runs at an average of 58.61 per innings. That included a world-record five consecutive centuries in 1948 — scores of 141 against England in Jamaica, followed by scores of 128, 194, 162 and 101 in India. In his next innings, he made 90 when he was run out.
Weekes also jointly holds the record for the fastest to reach 1000 Test runs with England’s Hebert Sutcliffe. Both of them had taken 9 Tests and 12 innings, one fewer than the legendary Don Bradman to complete 1000 Test runs.
He was also a highly respected coach, analyst, team manager, match referee for the International Cricket Council, and a member of the ICC Hall of Fame.
His average of 58.6 places Weekes, along with George Headley, in the top 10 Test averages of all time.
“Everyone at MCC and Lord’s are saddened at the news of Sir Everton Weekes’ passing,” the Marylebone Cricket Club said in a statement. “He will forever be remembered as one of the West Indies’ finest cricketers.”
Cricket West Indies president Ricky Skerritt said Weekes was “a gentleman and quite simply a wonderful human being.”
“I got to spend a couple hours with him last year just sitting at his home and talking with him, at a time when he was recovering from a serious illness,” Skeritt said of Weekes’ heart attack in June 2019. “I grew to appreciate his sense of humour and his love of people, and witnessed the love and respect that so many held for him in Barbados and across the entire region.”