Walsh with long-time partner Curtly Ambrose

And it was apt that when Walsh took his final bow on cricket's stage it too was at Sabina Park.

Born as the island received its independence in 1962, he is an immensely popular figure with his own people.

This is not only due to his amazing success but also because of his reputation as an approachable superstar.

A sporting ambassador for the government, Walsh travels on a diplomatic passport.

Yet he also remains a frequent visitor to the cricket club that moulded both Walsh and one of the other greats Michael Holding.

A glance at the Test statistics reveals that of all the great West Indian fast bowlers, no-one has played more games.

Michael Atherton has been a regular victim

Such are the demands of Test cricket that Holding, whose career began a decade before Walsh, played around half Walsh's 132 matches.

Holding's former team-mates Joel Garner and the late Malcolm Marshall also took their wickets at a significantly superior average to Walsh.

And Walsh's long-term partner-in-pace Curtly Ambrose was often regarded as a more spectacular and dangerous performer.

But it is unfair to say that the former West Indies skipper was a lesser bowler than these greats simply because he has had a greater opportunity to take all his wickets.

Such gripes are rather like complaining that a reliable German luxury car cannot go as fast as an exotic Italian sports car.

Someone to look up to

Every motorist knows that by the end of its life the expensive saloon will have travelled further, and that is exactly what Walsh has done, despite a persistent hamstring problem and countless injuries.

The bowler also played 14 English county seasons for Gloucestershire, snapping up 859 championship wickets and winning the title in 1986.

But despite his longevity no-one should think for a minute that Walsh has simply had to turn up to snap up all these wickets - or that they have been easy.

Australia, who during the paceman's career rose to become the dominant Test-playing nation, have provided more of his victims than any other nation, 69 in all to 68 England wickets.

Happy times

His placid exterior hides an intense competitor who can be as mean as any of the great quicks. Devon Malcolm can attest to that having once been given a bruising working over from around the wicket.

But above all he has been a great servant to the West Indies, despite having to play in a side that have deteriorated over the last few years. Among the struggles of the last year Walsh has remained head and shoulders above the rest.

So with his place in history secure, surely now he will put his feet up. He deserves a rest.