Everton Weekes finally fails —run out for 90.
Everton Weekes, born February 26, 1925, was a one of the great Three Ws who made up the bulwark of the West Indian side of the 1950s. Sengupta recalls the life and career of the man who ended up with the seventh best average among all batsmen who have ever played the game.
A short, compact man with amazing artillery of strokes, he used to time the ball to perfection. He also had wonderful eyes and wrists. Blessed with the gift of getting into the ideal position for each stroke, he seemed to have several options for each ball — most of them attacking.
Richie Benaud later recounted that according to many Australians who saw him bat, he was the closest in style to pre-World War 2 Don Bradman. When he called it a day, he was considered by many to be the most accomplished batsman amongst the hallowed trio — Clyde Walcott and Frank Worrell being the other two — aptly named the Three Ws.Yet, his first steps into Test cricket, against England in 1958, were tentative and inauspicious.
At Bridgetown, Port-of-Spain and Georgetown, he had been moved up and down the order, sent out at the fall of the first wicket, pushed to open the innings and then dropped down to number seven. He had been troubled by almost all the English bowlers, and with a highest score of 36 in five innings, he did not really seem to hold much promise.
Indeed, he was omitted from the final Test match at Kingston,
and managed to play only when the great George Headley had to drop out at the last moment. During the English innings he was relentlessly booed on the field, because the Jamaican crowd wanted local boy John Holt in the team.Everton Weekes came in to bat at 39 for one and was almost immediately dropped by Godfrey Evans off Dick Howorth. The catch, if taken, might have signalled the end of his career.
He latched on to this piece of good fortune with a display of majestic driving that had seldom been witnessed in the islands. Fifteen boundaries etched his innings as he piled up 141 runs and performed the dizzying alchemy of converting baiters into devoted fans. West Indies won the final Test by 10 wickets and took the series 2-0.
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