After Pakistan wrapped up the series 3-0 with a 10-wicket win an hour into the fourth day of the Third test in Karachi yesterday, the West Indies captain heard Clive Lloyd, his manager, say: ``Courtney put in so much hard work for us and has been badly let down by the side - particularly the batsmen.
``I think it is tragic that after giving his all, this is his reward. He is a remarkable man and I feel sorry for him. Courtney deserved better, but the players just didn't go out and do the business for him.''
Walsh - with 14 wickets in the series - admits that he is feeling the hurt to Caribbean pride coming out of this shambolic tour. West Indies have not won a single game and, besides the Test drubbing, lost all their matches in the quadrangular one-day tournament.
Beneath that languid countenance is a man brought up on the habit of winning, who finds it galling to be at the sticky end of the game.
``It isn't nice to be a part of that,'' Walsh said. ``Lack of consistency has been our problem. We didn't bat properly throughout the series. They always let us down.''
The tour has been dogged by talk of a rift between Walsh and Brian Lara, the crown prince in-waiting for the captaincy. Lloyd said: ``The rumours - they are no more than that - have excited uncertainty within the ranks, which isn't good for any side. They should have been scotched at source back at home.''
Now Curtly Ambrose (one wicket in two Tests) is going home with, it is said, back problems, fuelling doubts about his future. West Indies will have only 14 players on call when they arrive in Sharjah today.
The manager admits that Lara's loss of form (129 runs in six innings) was a huge blow. ``What is more he has gone in at a position in the order when we needed him to stay and score runs.
``Lara's highest score was 37. What we needed from a world-class player like him on some of the best pitches I have seen was a couple of big knocks.''
Who will lead West Indies against England? Lara is the unknown card, but Walsh, 35, appears still to want the job, saying: ``I am fit and doing well.''
Lloyd is concerned that Walsh could be summarily dismissed by the selectors after the Pakistan disasters. He said: ``That would be embarrassing for him and I don't want it to happen.
``There is talk that we sent Jimmy Adams with the A team to South Africa to groom him for the captaincy. But I don't know because I'm not a selector.'' That is a situation which does not entirely please Lloyd, who feels he should be part of the selection process.
His contract makes him manager of West Indies until after the 1999 World Cup, along with Malcolm Marshall as coach, and he considers he should have input into team choices.
Lloyd predicts that the selectors will have to make wholesale changes for England's visit. ``We've batted like second-raters, but then it has been going downhill for some time and used to be rescued by the bowlers. Now our leading bowlers are waning a bit and even they couldn't pull the batting out of the hole.''
Lloyd, who stepped down as captain in 1985 when West Indies were an unstoppable force, added: ``The decline here has been dramatic, but it was obvious the team has been on the slide for a number of years.
``We didn't read the warning signs then: we didn't stop and take stock and we should have done.
``The days of bang-wallop at the crease have gone. The opposition is different now: they prepare properly now, using videos, planning in advance. We have to be better prepared.''
What new faces will England be facing? Lloyd said Mervyn Dillon, who took a Test-best five wickets in Karachi, had the chance to make a place his own.
He added the names of the Jamaican batsman Robert Samuels, Reon King the Guyanese quick bowler, and Dinanth Ramnarine, the Trinidadian leg-spinner.
Lloyd takes refuge in the hope that when England arrive in less than a month's time it will be different for the West Indies playing at home. ``They have a fresh look about their side and so undoubtedly will we. One thing is for certain - it will be interesting.''