Sir Clyde Walcott (1926-2006)

Sir Clyde Walcott is dead.

The West Indian batsman who, along with Everton Weekes and Frank Worrell made up the legendary "Three W's," passed away in a hospital in his native Barbados. He was 80.

Born in St. Michael on January 17, 1926, Sir Clyde rose through the ranks to become one of the all-time great West Indies cricketers.

In a Test career that spanned 12 years (1948 through 1960), he played 44 Tests, scoring 3,798 runs at 56.68.

His batting exploits included a series in 1955 against Australia when he became the first batsman to score five centuries in a single Test series (827 runs from 10 innings, including centuries in both innings of a match twice).

Sir Clyde also shares the highest West Indian first-class partnership for any wicket: an unbeaten 574 for the fourth wicket with Frank Worrell for Barbados against Trinidad in 1945/1946.

He also played first class cricket for British Guiana between 1954 and 1964 and is widely credited with helping to expand the game to the sugar estates in Berbice.

Sir Clyde retired from Test cricket in 1960, and in 1992 became an ICC match referee. He was also a former president of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and was elected chairman of the ICC in 1993.

In 1994, he was knighted for services to cricket.