Two days ago, Sir Everton DeCourcy Weekes turned 95. Of surviving West Indies’ Test players, he is the oldest.
And yesterday the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) treated the legendary Barbados and West Indies batsman to a special birthday luncheon in the President’s Suite on the opening day of the sixth round regional first-class match between leaders Barbados Pride and Windward Islands Volcanoes at Kensington Oval.
One of the famous Three Ws – the others were Sir Frank Worrell and Sir Clyde Walcott (both now deceased) – Sir Everton looked relaxed and was no doubt happy as Barbados recovered from 132 for five to reach 357 for seven off 85 overs at the close of play.
He would have certainly enjoyed the batting in particular of left-hander Kyle Mayers, who slammed his second first-class century, with both coming this season. His first was also against the Windward Islands at Arnos Vale in St. Vincent in the first round.
From an overnight 121, Mayers was eventually dismissed for 140 in the first session today as Barbados were bowled out for 417 off 98.4 overs.
Significantly, too, Mayers became the first batsman to amass 500 runs for the season, taking his aggregate to 517.
Windward Islands fell for 258 in 62.3 overs with fast bowler Chemar Holder grabbing five for 73 to take his tally of wickets for the season to 29.
Barbados was six without loss in their second innings at stumps – an overall lead of 165.
Now, in relation to Sir Everton, his statistics are remarkable.
Sir Everton played 48 Test matches between January 21, 1948 and March 31, 1958. He scored 4455 runs including 15 centuries and 19 half-centuries at an average of 58.61. His highest score was 207. He also took 49 catches.
In 152 first-class matches, Weekes amassed 12010 runs with 36 hundreds and 54 half-centuries including a highest of 304 (ave: 55.34).
It is my pleasure to share extracts of an interview I did with him 30 years ago for Cricket Life magazine of which the Editor-in-Chief was Imran Khan, the outstanding former Pakistan captain and fast bowling all-rounder, who is now his country’s Prime Minister.
The initial setting was at the popular Enterprise Beach, commonly known as “Miami Beach” in Christ Church before we moved to his home, also in the same parish.
It was just after dawn and Weekes was among a small group of bathers.
When told that sea-bathing seemed to be one of his hobbies, Weekes, a former Empire Club player and Government cricket coach remarked: “I have been doing this for years. I walk about four or five miles on the beach and swim for about half-an-hour. You get some satisfaction knowing that if you are not on a hospital bed and you are not sick, you can make an effort to get reasonably fit. It’s not a bad habit to acquire. I miss it sometimes when I am out of Barbados but I at least try to walk if I cannot find a nice place to swim.
“I am happy with life. I am not crying too much. I suppose the pioneers never seem to get much out of the beautiful things in life but I am not complaining.
“I am happy to see that cricketers nowadays are pretty well satisfied with the money they are making out of the sport. I can only hope that they use it wisely. We can’t all be born at the same time. I suppose a lot of people who played the game at the time I played would, in retrospect, say that they would prefer to be playing now.
“But I always maintain that somebody had to roll the pitches, prepare the grounds and make it easier for some of the players. I am happy that I was part of that crowd that helped to prepare the way for modern cricketers.”
Weekes first came to prominence when he served with the Barbados Battalion of the Caribbean regiment. He was spotted by ELG Hoad, who captained the West Indies in the first-ever Test in the Caribbean against England in Barbados, 1929-30.
By the age of 18, Weekes had made his debut for Barbados as an opening batsman. Although he was impressive at national level he did not make it to the West Indies team until the 1947-48 MCC tour of the West Indies.
Of all his prodigious feats in Test cricket, Weekes is perhaps best remembered for his five consecutive Test centuries – still a world record. The first was against England in 1947-48 and the other four off India in 1948-49.
On that Indian tour, he amassed 779 runs at an average of 111.28 and reckons that his 162 in the third Test at Calcutta was his best Test innings despite scoring 194 at Bombay. He was well set for another century in his next innings when on 90 he was adjudged run out at Madras.
But with his characteristic modesty, he said: “I wouldn’t like to go around with a placard on my back saying that I made five consecutive Test centuries because the first thing people would say is that ‘I always knew he was crazy’.”
Weekes said it was difficult to compare cricketers of yesteryear with those of today.
“I think the fielding has improved tremendously. The players are fitter. But the batting and bowling are about the same level. There have been some great batsmen from all the cricketing nations and I think they measure up favourably with the great players of the past.”
Weekes was also a noted bridge player. He started playing the game seriously in 1974 and competed in World Championships in Holland, Seattle and Venice.
“It’s a beautiful experience playing another sport at that level. I see some of the players at the table behaving very much like some of our cricketers nowadays. I suppose because I played another sport I am a bit more tolerant than most of the players.”
Weekes is also a fond lover of jazz music, which he collected for many years and enjoyed travelling as well.
In that 1990 interview, he remarked: “I have a travelling bug. I have been travelling ever since I was 18 and I still like to go away from this beautiful island to get away from some of the nice and ugly things. I travel at least ten times a year, mainly to North America and Canada.
“I like church music. I was brought up in the days when one had to go to Sunday school. Frank (Worrell) and I used to sing quite a lot of church music on cricket tours.”
Weekes also expressed his views about batsmen using their pads when playing the ball.
“It has crept into cricket all over the world. I see West Indies players now using the pad as the first line of defence rather than the second. I am not boasting in any way but when I was playing cricket and the ball hit my pad, I was very scared because obviously I missed it. But nowadays it’s a deliberate thing to put the pad.
“Once in a Test match in 1950, I pushed forward to William Hollies, a leg-spinner, and the great one-handed umpire Frank Chester, gave me out lbw to a ball I thought was pitched outside the leg stump. The evening after he said to me: ‘Young man, you must use the bat and not your pad’. I am not saying he was right or wrong. I thought my pad was outside the leg stump but that was a lesson for me – continue to hit the ball rather than push the pad at it.”
And that came from a technical purist, who struck just one six in his Test career as he explained that, “you have a better chance hitting the ball flat rather than in the air. Three fours, in my opinion, are always better than two sixes.”
Weekes is the father of three sons and one daughter. One of his sons, David Murray, is a former Barbados and West Indies wicket-keeper/batsman. Another son Andy Weekes, played for the Barbados Youth team as a batsman but gave up the game early for a music career, while a grandson, Ricky Hoyte (Murray’s son), also played for Barbados.
Apart from the Order of St. Michael and St. George, Sir Everton was also awarded the Gold Crown of Merit and the Order of the British Empire. After his cricketing career ended he served as an ICC match referee.
In 1995, he was the last of the 3Ws to be knighted.
Well played Sir Everton and keep batting!
Keith Holder is a veteran, award-winning freelance sports journalist, who has been covering local, regional and International cricket since 1980 as a writer and commentator. He has compiled statistics on the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) Division 1 (now Elite) Championship for over three-and-a-half decades and is responsible for editing the BCA website (www.bcacricket.org). Email: Keithfholder@gmail.com
