Sir Clyde Walcott, who died on Saturday aged 80, was one of "the three Ws", the trio of great batsmen in the West Indies team during the 1940s and 1950s - the others, also knighted, were Frank Worrell and Everton Weekes.

It is rare enough that a Test side should contain three batsmen of the very highest class at the same time. The three Ws, however, were all born on Barbados (about the size of the Isle of Wight) within 18 months of each other. Walcott, the youngest of them, was notably modest about his talents. But for the chance of his surname beginning with a W, he used to say as a young man, no one would have thought of putting him in the same class as Worrell and Weekes.

Statistics, however, suggest otherwise. They suggest, in fact, that in the mid-1950s Walcott was the best batsman in the world. In the two successive series in the West Indies, in 1953-54 and 1954-55, he made, first, 698 runs against England at an average of 87.25; and then, against Australia, scored 827 at 82.70, including a century in each innings in two of the Test matches.

The opposition, moreover, was formidable. The England attack in 1953-54 boasted Fred Trueman, Brian Statham, Tony Lock, Jim Laker and Johnny Wardle. The Australian bowlers the next year included Ray Lindwall, Keith Miller, Ian Johnson, Bill Johnston, Richie Benaud and Ron Archer.

Walcott's behaviour was always impeccable, and he had a particular horror of anything that approached showing-off. But on the field his polite diffidence disappeared, and he emerged as a batsman bent on domination. Crouching low in his stance, he would stand up to drive with astonishing power off both the front and the back foot. Few players have been stronger in the forearms or hit the ball harder; when he was on form, even the good length ball would be forced like a bullet between the bowler and mid-on.