DOHA: Cricket West Indies (CWI) paid tribute to legendary batsman Sir Everton Weekes, who passed away at the age of 95 on Wednesday.
“Sir Everton was one of the most significant figures in the history of the sport – as a batsman of the highest quality, he played alongside other forefathers of West Indies cricket for a decade at the international level,” CWI said.
Weekes was part of the famous Three Ws – alongside Sir Frank Worrell and Sir Clyde Walcott.
He was also a highly respected coach, knowledgeable analyst, former Team Manager, ICC Match Referee and a member of the ICC Hall of Fame.
“On behalf of CWI I want to publicly express our deepest sympathy to the family of this remarkable Iconic sportsman and gentleman,” said CWI President Ricky Skerritt. “Sir Everton was therefore a most amazing pioneer in West Indies cricket; a gentleman and quite simply a wonderful human being.”
Born, Everton DeCourcey Weekes, he was a member of the famous Empire Club in Barbados, which was also home to several other legends of the game including Sir Frank Worrell, Sir Charlie Griffith and Sir Conrad Hunte.
He made his Test debut at age 22 against England at Kensington Oval in 1948 under the captaincy of George Headley. His final match was against Pakistan in Trinidad a decade later.
Sir Everton played 48 Test matches and made 4455 runs at an average of 58.61 per innings which included a world record five consecutive centuries in 1948 – 141 against England in Jamaica, followed by scores of 128, 194, 162 and 101 in India. In his next innings, he made 90.