Leslie Wight

Best described as a dour, disciplined, patient opening batsman, Leslie Wight exhibited tremendous powers of concentration and, quite simply, he hated to lose his wicket. He was a member of a famous Guyana cricketing family, that also included three brothers who also played first class cricket for Guyana. One of them - Peter - had a long career in England, firstly with Somerset (1953-65) and then as an umpire (1966-95).

Les, as his friends called him, made his first class debut for Guyana in 1950, in a match against Barbados in Bridgetown, which he later described as a baptism of fire, as the Barbados attack was spearheaded by Frank King who had the ball whistling past his ears.

In 1951 Les amassed 262 not out in 708 minutes for Guyana against Barbados at Georgetown, putting on 390 with Glendon Gibbs, who made 216. That remained a West Indian first-wicket record until 2001, when it was beaten by Leon Garrick (200*) and Chris Gayle (208*), who put on an unbroken opening stand of 425 for Jamaica against West Indies B at Montego Bay. Les was on the field throughout that match, which Guyana won by an innings.

In his only Test match, the fourth Test against India at Georgetown in 1953, he batted at Number 6.  This was unusual because he was an opening batsman and, for reasons only the captain knew, Jeff Stollmeyer elected to open the innings with Bruce Pairaudeau, much to Les's dismay and chagrin. Les made 21, but was painfully slow - his first dozen runs took two hours - and although he helped Clyde Walcott (125) put on 71.

Shortly after the Test, Les emigrated to Canada, never representing either Guyana or the West Indies again. He was married in 1953 and got four sons. A devoted husband and father, Les somehow found the time to pursue his lifelong love - cricket. Not one to talk too much about the game, he was, however, an ardent student of the game, and continued to amass countless centuries in Canadian cricket.

In 1984, Les was diagnosed with cancer of the spine and was told by his doctor that he would not walk again. Not only did he prove his doctor wrong and walk again, but up to 3 years before his death in 2004, he was playing the game he loved.