Clyde Walcott was one of the three Ws, a trio of great batsmen who played for West Indies in the 1950s. In 1958, he was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year.
Clyde Walcott’s Test career ended against England in 1960, after he had scored 3,798 runs at 56 in 44 matches.
One of the pillars of West Indies cricket in the last ten years has been Clyde Leopold Walcott, the brilliant all-rounder, who was born at Bridgetown on January 17, 1926. When, in 1951, Wisden paid tribute to Frank Worrell and Everton Weekes, the Editor remarked in his preface: “My only regret was that room could not be found for C.L. Walcott.”
Now, the opportunity is taken to include the third member of the famous W triumvirate, all of whom first saw the light of day in that lovely sunny island of Barbados. All were born cricketers. Walcott grew up in a cricket atmosphere; his father and two uncles played club cricket and were keen enthusiasts.
Facing Australia in 1955/56, Walcott performed feats achieved by no other player in history, when, both at Port-of-Spain and Kingston, he hit a century in each innings of the two Tests. Lindwall, Miller, Johnson, Archer, Benaud and Johnston all tasted the full fury of his devastating hitting. His aggregate of 827 was the highest for West Indies in any rubber, and yet he was on the losing side, for Australia won comfortably, gaining three victories, with two matches drawn.
Walcott had hit 12 hundreds in his last 12 Tests. Small wonder he was appointed vice-captain for the tour of England last summer, but he found the conditions vastly changed from 1950. No longer were the pitches at Lord’s, Leeds and The Oval discouraging to bowlers. Unfortunately, he strained a leg muscle when batting beautifully in the first Test at Birmingham and for some weeks laboured under a big handicap, but against the counties in May and August, he looked as good as ever. Indeed, he finished fifth in the full season’s averages, with only May, Worrell, Cowdrey and Graveney above him.
Walcott is a great favourite in Lancashire, where he played for Enfield from 1951 to 1954. Since then, he has gone to live in British Guyana, where he is coaching their young players, as well as playing for the colony.
