Farewell to League legend Everton

LEGENDARY West Indies batsman Sir Everton Weekes, who played seven seasons in the Lancashire League in the 1950s, has passed away at the age of 95.

Weekes was already a West Indies Test player when, in 1949, he accepted a £500 offer to become Bacup’s professional.

Often seen around the area in a heavy military-style overcoat – such was his aversion to the cold – he developed a love of the area and his landlady’s potato pie!

He made no secret of the fact he missed his Barbados home, but was comforted by the company of fellow Windies Test legends Frank

Worrall and Clyde Walcott, who were also playing regularly in the area.

In each of his seven seasons he surpassed 1000 runs and enjoyed success with the ball, with 50 wickets to his name in all but one of his summers in the Valley. His averages were eye-catching to say the least, with 1952 yielding a return of 80.75, 1953 94.42 and 1953 seeing him secure 1,266 runs in 17 innings with an average of 158.25, the highest in Lancashire League history to this day.

His best return with the ball was 80 wickets in the 1956 campaign, when Bacup finished the season as Worsley

Cup winners. In total, he took 453 wickets for Bacup at 15.2 with a best of 8-20.