Clyde Walcott: Statesman of West Indies Cricket

Martin Chandler | 9:10am BST 08 September 2024

Published: 2024
Pages: 208
Author: Mason, Peter
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Rating: 3.5 stars

Clyde Walcott was a big man in every sense of the word. His height and build would, intuitively have militated against him making a top class wicketkeeper, but by all accounts until back problems forced him to give that role up he was more than competent.

Above all however Walcott was a punishing right handed middle order batsman. His overall Test average of 56.68, despite having four relatively poor series during his career, amply demonstrate that when he was on song he was one of the very best. Forever remembered with his fellow ‘Ws’, Frank Worrell and Everton Weekes it is perhaps surprising that he has not previously been the subject of a biography especially as, once his playing days were over, a long involvement in West Indian cricket in an administrative capacity followed, and beyond that there were roles with the ICC.

Not that there has been any shortage of words written on Walcott, including two autobiographies, one in 1957, Island Cricketers, when his playing career was drawing towards its close, and a second, Sixty Years on the Back Foot, just before his retirement in 1999. Nonetheless a biography is overdue even if, as here, Peter Mason has not been able to uncover any revelatory material. The reason for that may well, of course, be the simple one that there is nothing to be found.

As a result however the book does lean heavily on the two autobiographies, and whilst insights have been forthcoming from some who knew Walcott with the exception of Michael Holding none of the giants of West Indian cricket have been interviewed for the book which is a little disappointing. Teammates like Garry Sobers, Rohan Kanhai and Wes Hall are still with us as, of course, are the captains who led the teams that Walcott managed. Also conspicuous by its absence is any input from any family member, in particular son Michael who was a good enough batsman to earn selection, albeit only once, for Barbados in the mid 1970s.

There can however be no doubt but that Walcott’s life was an interesting one and, in many ways, an inspiring one as well. A significant part of the book, about a third of it, is taken up with Walcott’s life after his playing career ended and it is in those two chapters that the reader comes to really understand just how important a figure Walcott was, in both the Caribbean and beyond. Mason is a fine wordsmith and tells the story well, and in the final chapter produces a sage assessment of his subject. For those who own or have read both of Island Cricketers and Sixty Years on the Back Foot this biography may prove a little disappointing, but that observation apart this is a book well worth investing in.