While playing first class cricket in the West Indies domestic competition he fractured a finger which later became infected and had to be amputated.
Prolific at First Class level, he was a joy to watch though his innings in test cricket were all too brief despite flashes of brilliant stroke play.
Later that season, Williams (83) and Sherwin Campbell (79) added 160 for the first wicket in a successful fourth innings chase of 189 against Sri Lanka at St Johns.
Williams and Campbell formed the Caribbean team's sixth most successful opening pair in Tests at the time, yielding 868 runs over 27 innings.
Following a three-year absence from Test cricket, he forced his way back into the team by topping the 2002 Busta Cup averages with 722 runs at 72.20.