It seems ludicrous now, but Sir Everton Weekes – the legendary West Indian batsman who has died at the age of 95 and was universally known as one of the ‘Three Ws’ – was briefly dropped from Test cricket.
Playing in his first series, against England in early 1948, he was reprieved for the fourth and final match in Jamaica only because George Headley pulled out with an injury. Weekes was put down before he had scored, and booed by locals who thought he shouldn’t have been chosen. Yet he ended up making 141. The same spectators chaired him off the field. It was the beginning of greatness.
His next four Test innings, all in India, produced scores of 128, 194, 162 and 101. Had he not been controversially run out for 90 in Madras, he would have extended the sequence of hundreds to six. As it is, Weekes’ five in succession remained a Test record he took to his grave – statistical proof of his mastery.
Legendary former West Indies batsman Sir Everton Weekes has died at the age of 95
Weekes had passed away after a prolonged illness at his Christ Church home in Barbados
‘Making runs is a habit,’ he once said, as if it was all second nature. ‘Why not enjoy it when you get into that habit, for there’ll come a time, once you play long enough, that you’ll lose that habit.’
He rarely did, and West Indies’ official Twitter feed on Wednesday night spoke for the world of cricket: ‘Our hearts are heavy as we mourn the loss of an icon.’
Weekes was always bracketed with Frank Worrell and Clyde Walcott, the three Ws all born within 18 months and a mile of each other in the parish of St Michael on Barbados’s south-west coast. Walcott even believed they were all delivered by the same midwife.
He also believed that, of the three – who all made their Test debuts in that England series – Weekes was the best batsman. It was a claim that was hard to counter, and made it all the more curious that Weekes was the last of the trio to be knighted.
He made his Test debut against England in 1948, retired a decade later and was later knighted
Cricket West Indies have paid a touching tribute to Weekes, saying their hearts are ‘heavy’
In 48 Tests spread over a decade until his retirement in 1958, he scored 4,455 runs at an average of 58. Of West Indians to have played at least 20 Test innings, only Headley (60) had a higher average. Even Garry Sobers (57) was left in the shade.
Seven of Weekes’ 15 hundreds came in just 15 innings against India, while he once made three in a row in New Zealand. Shortly before his final Test, he was still good enough to make 197 against Pakistan on his home ground, Bridgetown’s Kensington Oval. But for politicking at board level, he might have played many more Tests, instead seeing out his career playing for his island and touring international teams.
Australia’s Richie Benaud, a regular opponent, said Weekes ‘set out to hammer the bowlers’. He added: ‘He was a fierce hooker, puller and square-cutter, but at the same time a terrific driver.’
Benaud also felt Weekes was the closest he and his team-mates had seen to Don Bradman. He wasn’t exaggerating: Weekes needed only 12 Test innings to bring up 1,000 runs; Bradman took 13.
Weekes (pictured with fellow West Indies legend Frank Worrell) was one of the iconic three Ws
Like Bradman, Weekes preferred to keep his strokes along the ground, a legacy of the street games he played during his childhood, when a broken window meant a confiscated ball. He hit only one Test six, lofting Australia’s Bill Johnston over long-on as a game in Trinidad drifted towards a draw.
Weekes was bright enough to play bridge for Barbados, and kept fit into his nineties with regular swims at the beach near his bungalow. But it was cricket that nourished and sustained him. After retirement, he filled almost every role under the Caribbean sun: West Indies board member, coach, selector and team manager. He was also an ICC match referee.
As for his unusual name, his father christened him in honour of the football club, prompting England’s off-spinner Jim Laker to quip: ‘It’s a good thing he wasn’t a West Bromwich Albion fan.’
In life, so – perhaps – in death. Both Worrell (who died back in 1967, with Weekes a pall-bearer at his funeral) and Walcott (in 2006) are buried on ground overlooking the Kensington Oval. On Wednesday night, speculation began that Weekes may soon be reunited with his old friends once more.
England Cricket and the MCC have also paid touching tributes to Weekes (right) on Twitter
Cricket West Indies have posted a series of emotional throwback pictures of their icon Weekes