Dear Editor,
Sir Everton Weekes, the last of the three famous W’s passed away quietly last Tuesday some four and a half years short of a century of life. He along with Sir Frank Worrell and Sir Clyde Walcott powered West Indies as a force to be reckoned with in the world of cricket in the 50’s. Weekes was the first batsman to score five consecutive test centuries. He represented the West Indies for ten years playing in 48 test matches, scoring 4455 runs including 15 centuries at a good average of 58.6 runs. I was lucky to meet Everton Weekes at Bourda during the second test match between West Indies and England in 1994 which incidentally was the match that another local hero Shivnarine Chanderpaul made his test debut. Despite his outstanding achievements, Everton Weekes was a modest, humble and amiable personality as we spoke for hours during the test match. He told me that in his heyday of cricket, Barbados playing against Guyana was considered a mini-test match in the Caribbean.
It is difficult to separate the role of the three W’s in placing the West Indies on the map of the cricketing World. The Stabroek News Editorial 12/10/2010 on the first tied test in Australia captured Worrell’s leadership role stating “Frank Worrell on his first tour as the first black captain of West Indies for a whole series, and his team of cavaliers were feted as victors and heroes as 250,000 people came out on to the streets of Melbourne to give them a ticker tape parade. Such an accolade was, at the time unprecedented in cricket and in sport, significantly, it has not been accorded again to any visiting team, in any sport, in any country”. I was told that the jubilant admirers chanted `we want to see, more Sobers, more Kanhai, more Gibbs and Wes Hall’ such was the exuberance that saw nail-biting ends to most of the matches in that test series.
Clyde Walcott carved a role not only as an accomplished cricketer but even more as a successful administrator both regionally and internationally. I always heard and read of the contributions of Clyde Walcott to the development of cricket in my home town Port Mourant while he served as welfare manager at Bookers sugar estates. For three decades “Port Mourant was the nursery and laboratory for Guyana and West Indies cricket”. Clyde Walcott led British Guiana in the triangular series that mesmerized a powerful Barbados side at home in Kensington Oval in the mid 50’s. That team included six of the most talented cricketers namely Kanhai, Butcher, Solomon, Madray, Bajnauth and Harnanand from the Berbice sugar estates. Clyde Walcott was a selector and President of the West Indies cricket board when cricket reigned supreme in the region. He would later rise to become Chairman of the International Cricket Council.
Now that the last of the three legendary W’s has gone one can only suffer from a nostalgia and hope for a return of the unforgettable days of West Indies cricket dominance. Both West Indies and Guyana experienced great success when the cricket administration was in the hands of past cricketers. Most people who saw Everton Weekes batting will not only express sorrow that he has gone but that such talent will never be seen again given the current dismal state of West Indies cricket.
Farewell to a fallen hero!
Yours faithfully,
Rajendra Rampersaud
