Walsh honoured by suggestion to erect statue in his likeness
KINGSTON – Legendary West Indies fast bowler Courtney Walsh said he would be honoured to have a statue erected in his likeness at Sabina Park in Jamaica.His comments have come in the wake of a suggestion by Opposition Spokesperson on Labour and Sports, Wavell Hinds, in Parliament for Walsh to be rewarded for his significant contribution to cricket with a statue.
In a subsequent interview with The Gleaner, the 63-year-old Walsh, who took a combined 746 wickets for the West Indies in 205 One Day Internationals and 132 Tests between 1984 and 2001, said he would be humbled by such an accolade.Walsh became the first bowler in history to reach the 500-wicket milestone in 2000, and his 519 Test wickets were a world record until Shane Warne surpassed him in 2004.“It would be an honour and a pleasure for me to be remembered in that way and to be recognised in that way,” Walsh said.
“Just to probably go a little bit further, as a former record holder, I remember walking through the airport with some friends, and they asked me if I played for the West Indies and if I’m Jamaican. I asked them why, and they said, ‘Well, listen, we passed through this airport, and there’s nothing here of you, but we’ve seen everybody else.’“Yeah, it’d be nice to be recognised. I know that we had the Courtney Walsh Awards back in the days that were supported by the CHASE Fund, and that has gone very quiet. But we must also find a way to help our sporting greats after their playing years,” he added.