WEST Indies cricketing legend Sir Everton Weekes, who played seven memorable seasons for Bacup Cricket Club in the 1950s, has died aged 95.

Weekes, who had been ailing for the last few months, passed away at his Barbados home around mid-day on Tuesday (July 1).

Barbados Cricket Association president Conde Andrew Riley, said he was deeply saddened.

“Sir Everton was one of our greats. He has made a massive contribution to Barbados and West Indies cricket. This is a sad time for cricket. We have lost a legend,” Riley said.

Sir Everton, who turned 95 in February, is the only man in history to score five successive Test hundreds, achieving the feat in 1948.

His Test average of 58.61 is one of the highest in all cricket. In 48 matches, he scored 15 hundreds.

Along with Frank Worrell and Clyde Walcott, he formed what became known as 'The Three Ws' of the West Indies cricket team.

In 1949 Weekes accepted an offer of £500 to play as the professional for Bacup in the Lancashire League.

According to legend, when he first arrived in Bacup, Weekes was greatly affected by the cold and took to wearing an army great coat everywhere, to the extent it became part of his image.

His homesickness for Barbados was tempered by his landlady's potato pies and the presence of Worrell and Walcott, who were playing for League clubs Radcliffe and Enfield respectively. The three Ws would regularly meet at Weekes's house midweek for an evening of piano playing and jazz singing.

In all, Weekes played seven seasons in the Lancashire League between 1949 and 1958, passing 1000 runs in each.

His 1,518 runs scored in 1951 is still the club record and for 40 years was the League record. Weekes scored an extraordinary 9,069 runs for Bacup at 91.61, with 25 centuries, including 195* against Enfield, a score that remains a League record as does his 1954 batting average of 158.25.

Weekes also had success with the ball, taking at least fifty wickets in all but one season at Bacup, including 80 wickets in 1956.

During the 1954 season he also played for neighbouring Central Lancashire League (CCL) club Walsden as sub professional in the Wood Cup Final. His 150 runs and 9 wickets helped the village club to their first trophy in the seventy years since they became founder members of the CLL. Weekes's performances were a significant contribution to League crowds, with over 325,000 spectators attending Lancashire League matches in 1949, a record as yet unsurpassed.

"Our hearts are heavy as we mourn the loss of an icon," read a Twitter post from Cricket West Indies.