Mastering the Craft: Ten Years of Weekes 1948-1958

The second youngest and most dimunitive of the famous 3 Ws- Worrel, Weekes and Walcott-Everton, Weekes was in his day the most punishing batsman in the world, earning him the sobriquet of the "butcher". Some, like the legendary batsman Sir Donald Bradman thought "he was the best batsman ever to come out of the West Indies". The record of his relatviely brief test career (1948-58) speaks for itself during which he created and still holds the West Indian record for scoring five consecutive centuries. But it was the manner in which he made his runs that was remarkable; what one contemporary describes as his "slaughterings" was matched only by his outstanding attribuites of determination, confidence and discipline best exemplified by the fact that he seldom hit the ball in the air and the only six he ever hit was off a non-ball and off the backfoot over mid-on! Owen Arthur, the former Prime Minister of Barbados for whom Weekes was a boyhood hero believes that through hsi excellence on the cricket field Sir Everton helped in a fundamental way to change Barbados for the better forever, by proving that true excellence cannot be contrained by social barriers. The everton Weekes experience is the quintessential Caribbean story. It is a tale of how materially poor households produced citizens who achieved global excellence on account of Brilliant intellect, fierce discipline and determination and extraordinary generosity of spirit.