West Indies great Everton Weekes dies at the age of 95

Barbadian batsman was part of the famous three 'Ws' of Caribbean cricket

Former West Indies great Sir Everton Weekes died on Wednesday aged 95. AP

Left to right: Frank Worrell, Everton Weekes and Clyde Walcott - the three 'Ws' of the West Indian cricket team - at the West Indian Club, London, in 1957. Getty

Former West Indies players Everton Weekes, left, and Andy Gantaume stand in front of a display honoring Frank Worrell during a ceremony in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, in 2008. AP

Left to right: Kenneth Rickards, Frank Worrell, Clyde Walcott, Roy Marshall and Everton Weekes, at St Pancras Station in London on September 13, 1951. Getty

West Indies great Sir Everton Weekes has died aged 95. Getty

Everton Weekes batting for the West Indies during the third Test against England at Trent Bridge in Nottingham on July 22, 1950. Getty

West Indies cricketers Frank Worrell, left, and Everton Weekes go out to bat against England at Trent Bridge. Getty

West Indies batsman Everton Weekes still is among the top 10 best Test batting averages in history. Getty

West Indies legend Sir Everton Weekes. Getty

Left to right: Shannon Garbiel, Rahkeem Cornwall, Kraigg Braithwaite and Jomel Warrican of the West Indies observe a minutes silence with their team mates in memory of former West Indies batsman Sir Everton Weekes. Getty

Phil Simmons, head coach of the West Indies, observes a minutes silence alongside his team in memory of Sir Everton Weekes. Getty

West Indies great and part of the famous three "Ws" of Caribbean cricket, Everton Weekes, has died at the age of 95.

The West Indies Cricket board said the Barbados-born Weekes died on Wednesday. He played alongside Frank Worrell and Clyde Walcott, all three players making their Test debuts in 1948.

He was also a respected coach, analyst, team manager, match referee for the International Cricket Council, and a member of the ICC Hall of Fame.

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 Tests 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 128, 194, 162 and 101 in India. In his next innings, he made 90 when he was run out.

Worrell died in 1967 and Walcott in 2006.

His average of 58.61 runs 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 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.”