BRIDEGTOWN, Barbados (AP):

CLYDE WALCOTT, a West Indies cricket legend and the first non-British chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC), was remembered as a pioneer, visionary and a reason why the sport is called the 'gentleman's game' at his funeral in Barbados yesterday.

More than 500 people - including Sir Garfield Sobers, considered one of the greatest allrounders, and Trinidad's Brian Lara, the double world record holder - packed a church in Bridgetown to pay tribute to Walcott, who died one week ago at the age of 80 after a brief illness.

Walcott, a Barbados native who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1993 for his contribution to cricket, was part of the famed West Indies 'Three Ws' formation in the 1950s, along with Frank Worrell and Everton Weekes. The trio featured in the emergence of the West Indies as a force in the game after World War II.

A great man

"The Three Ws were my mentors. I was just happy to sit among them and learn the game from them," said Sobers, 70. "Clyde was a great man, he was an amazing player, and after he finished playing he went on to make an outstanding contribution to the game."

Walcott was a powerful right-handed batsman, steady medium-pace bowler and an occasional wicketkeeper. He scored 3,788 runs, with 15 centuries, in 44 Tests for the West Indies from 1948-60. His batting average of 56.68 is 15th in the all-time rankings.

He kept wicket in 15 Tests before back problems forced him to give it up.

"I read about his exploits and those of Worrell and Weekes and always marvelled at what they achieved," Lara said. "He did a great job for the West Indies and for world cricket. He is an icon of the game, and a great West Indian and world figure."

Walcott, coached in Barbados and was manager of the West Indies teams that won the World Cup in 1975 and 1979. His time as manager, selector and eventually president of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) from the late 1970s through the early 1990s coincided with the most successful period of West Indies cricket, when the team did not lose a Test series for 15 years.

In the later years of his playing career, his stint as coach and organiser on Guyana's sugar estates inspired the revival of cricket in the South American country.