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| September 04, 2006 | Monday | Sha'aban 10, 1427 |
Sobers, Lara attend Sir Clyde’s funeral
BRIDEGTOWN, Sept 3: West Indies great Sir Clyde Walcott was remembered as a pioneer, visionary and a reason why cricket is called the ‘gentleman's game’ at his funeral in Barbados on Saturday.
More than 500 people — including Sir Garfield Sobers and Brian Lara — packed a church in Bridgetown to pay tribute to Walcott, who died a week ago at the age of 80 after a brief illness.
Former West Indies fast bowler Wes Hall, who played with Walcott, described him as a ‘pioneer, visionary and leader.’
“Sir Clyde played cricket in the way it should have been played and his example summed up why cricket is called the 'gentleman's game,” said Hall, a former West Indies manager and president.
Walcott, a Barbados native who was knighted in 1993 for his contribution to cricket, was part of the famed West Indies ‘Three Ws’ formation in the 1950s, along with Frank Worrell and Everton Weekes. The trio featured in the emergence of West Indies as a force in the game after World War II.
“The Three Ws were my mentors. I was just happy to sit among them and learn the game from them,” said Sobers, 70. “Clyde was a great man, he was an amazing player, and after he finished playing he went on to make an outstanding contribution to the game.”
Walcott was a powerful right-handed batsman, steady medium-pace bowler and an occasional wicket-keeper. He scored 3,788 runs, with 15 centuries, in 44 Tests for West Indies from 1948-60. His batting average of 56.68 is 15th in the all-time rankings.
“I read about his exploits and those of Worrell and Weekes and always marvelled at what they achieved,” Lara said. “He did a great job for the West Indies and for world cricket. He is an icon of the game and a great West Indian and world figure.”
Walcott coached in Barbados and was manager of the West Indies teams which won the World Cup in 1975 and 1979. His time as manager, selector and eventually president of the West Indies Cricket Board from the late 1970s through the early 1990s coincided with the most successful period of West Indies cricket, when the team did not lose a Test series for 15 years.
He went on to preside over the International Cricket Council.
Walcott was buried on a hill overlooking the Three Ws Oval cricket ground at the University of the West Indies, just outside Bridgetown. He wore a West Indies team tie, and his coffin was draped with a West Indies Cricket Board flag.
Worrell, who died in 1967, is also buried overlooking the ground — where warm-up matches for the 2007 World Cup will be played.—AP
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