Former West Indies pacer Andy Roberts on Saturday stated that the present crop of quick bowlers are extra centered on their line and lengths as an alternative of bowling quick.
Happy birthday to Sir Andy Roberts!
Celebrating the special occasion with the legend himself on the Coolidge Cricket Ground 🥳#U19CWC pic.twitter.com/HvpwB0GvSD
— ICC (@ICC) January 29, 2022
Speaking to former Ireland captain Niall O’ Brien on the sideline of the quarter-final conflict between India and Bangladesh, the previous West Indies pacers says the appearance of T20 cricket has ruined the artwork of quick bowling and it makes him unhappy to see the present quick bowling unit of West Indies.
“To me, the fast bowling in West Indies is not as encouraging as it was 15-20 years ago. Even after the greats have retired, we still had a few youngsters, who were coming through. I don’t know if it is the advent of T20 cricket that is not allowing bowlers and bowl fast. People are more focused on line and length these days instead of real fast bowling,” stated Roberts, who fashioned the formidable pace-quartet for West Indies within the Nineteen Seventies and early 80s.
The pace-quartet comprised 4 real quick bowlers, specifically Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Joel Garner and Colin Croft.
Roberts, who was additionally the integral a part of the West Indies World Cup profitable staff in 1975 and 1979, says even as we speak anybody who runs and bowls quick excites him.
“Anybody, who runs and bowls fast is what I like and who I like because you can transform from a good fast bowler to a good swing bowler or a good medium pacer bowler. But You can’t go from being a medium pacer to a fast bowler. It takes a lot out to do that,” stated Roberts, who turned 71 on Saturday.
Robert took 202 wickets in 47 Tests at a bowling common of 25.63 and 87 wickets in 56 ODI’s at a bowling common of 20.35.
Roberts nonetheless has a ardour for the sport but it surely hurts him too deeply to see the decline of West Indies cricket.
“I have a great passion for the game and especially West Indies cricket. So to me, it is very sad to see that West Indies are not taking part in the final stage of the ICC Men’s U-19 World Cup,” he stated.
Roberts was the primary cricketer from Antigua, who went on to play Test cricket for the West Indies, however rising up he too had a number of fellow quick bowlers to look as much as.
“It was a good sign coming from here. There were better fast bowlers than myself from Antigua in the 1960s and early 70s. Lester Bird (former Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda) and Hubert Anthonyson, these are names who are not well known but for our generations back then in the Antigua circuit, they were inspirations,” he stated.
