In the 1950s the West Indies cricket team announced its arrival as a dominant force, beating England in a Test series for the first time on English soil.

Remarkably, the tiny Caribbean island of Barbados produced the five most successful West Indies batsmen of the era, the most famous of whom were the 'Three Ws'.

Born within walking distance of each other and delivered by the same midwife, Sir Everton Weekes, Sir Frank Worrell and Sir Clyde Walcott made their Test debuts within three weeks of each other and played Test cricket together for over nine years.

The Three Ws were the founding fathers of modern West Indian cricket and were pivotal in developing modern world cricket. I

n recognition of Barbados recently celebrating its fiftieth anniversary of independence, this book examines the historical importance of cricket to the island's culture, looks at the factors that led to the island becoming a powerful influence in West Indies cricket and pays tribute to the cricketers who made Barbados famous in its pre-independence days.