PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - West Indian fast bowler Courtney Walsh today became the first bowler in cricket history to take 500 Test wickets here at the Queen's Park Oval when he trapped South African batsman Jacques Kallis leg before.

The 38-year-old, playing in his 129th Test which is also a record for a specialist bowler, reached the milestone when he took two wickets in three balls in South Africa's second innings of the second Test.

Opener Gary Kirsten was his 499th victim when he edged a cut to wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs, prompting police to move into position to prevent a possible crowd invasion.

They did not have long to wait as Kallis became wicket number 500 when he was lbw to a ball which cut back at him to reach the magical mark at an overall average of 24.67 runs.

Walsh ran down the pitch with his arms raised in triumph and was engulfed by his teammates.

It was yet another record for a player whose achievements owe as much to stamina as they do to natural ability.

Although he hasn't officially announced his retirement, it is accepted that the series against South Africa will be his last.

His triumph today ensured the remaining three Test matches, in Barbados, Antigua and his home country, Jamaica, will be an extended valedictory for one of the most respected men in cricket.

Walsh took 28833 deliveries, more than 1000 more than anyone else has sent down, to break into statistical territory that for generations was thought to be out of reach.

When Walsh played in his first Test in November 1984 he was a gangly 22-year-old who backed up the great fast bowling trio of the late Malcolm Marshall, Joel Garner and Michael Holding.

Walsh didn't even get to bowl in his first Test innings as Australia was shot out for 76 on a bouncy pitch in Perth.

He got a turn in the second innings, though, when Graeme Wood was caught in the slips by Richie Richardson, the first of a who's who of international batsmen who have fallen victim to one of the most skilful practitioners of line and length bowling the game has known.

Early in his career, Walsh was a workhorse, the man who bowled into the wind and kept the batsmen quiet while the strike bowlers attacked.

But when the production line of West Indian fast bowlers dried up, Walsh became a kingpin.

Throughout the 1990s, it was Walsh and recently-retired Curtly Ambrose who carried the attack for their side.

Walsh has never been an express bowler with the pace of a Marshall or a Holding but his height and an easy, rhythmic action enable him to generate steep bounce.

His unremitting accuracy and ability to bowl long spells have become legendary.

A vicious inducker has been his stock wicket-taking delivery.

"I just try to look after myself," he told journalists in January at the end of his fifth and final tour of Australia.

"I try to listen to my body and work along with it.

"One of the main things is that I enjoy competing against the opposition and I enjoy trying to do a job for the team. Once I'm enjoying both it makes the job a lot easier."

Walsh has gradually been clocking up the milestones which lead to cricketing immortality.

It took him 80 matches to reach 300 wickets in England in 1995, making him the 10th man to join the "300 club".

Then he became the all-time leading wicket-taker for the West Indies, overtaking Marshall's record of 376 during the first Test against South Africa in 1998/99.

His next target was Kapil Dev's world mark of 434 and he achieved it in his 114th Test a year ago, amid emotional scenes in his home town of Kingston, Jamaica, when Henry Olonga, Zimbabwe's last batsman, was caught at short leg.

Walsh has taken five wickets in an innings 21 times, with a best of 7-37 against New Zealand in Wellington in 1994/95. He has taken 10 wickets in a match three times.

New honours seem sure to be bestowed on a man who has been awarded the Order of Jamaica, been given a gift of land by Jamaican prime minister Percival Patterson and who travels on a diplomatic passport with the official designation of ambassador at large.

© 2001 AAP