West Indies Pace Bowling Not As Encouraging As It Was 15-20 Years Ago: Andy Roberts

Former West Indies pacer Andy Roberts celebrated his 71st birthday on January 29. He was present at the Coolidge Cricket Ground to watch the U-19 clash between India and Bangladesh. He has expressed his disappointment at the current crop of pacers in West Indies cricket.

Speaking to Niall O’ Brien on the sideline of the quarter-final clash between India and Bangladesh, Andy Roberts said that the advent of T20 cricket is taking away the art of bowling fast in international cricket.

Happy birthday to Sir Andy Roberts!

Celebrating the special day with the legend himself at the Coolidge Cricket Ground ?#U19CWC pic.twitter.com/HvpwB0GvSD

— ICC (@ICC) January 29, 2022

“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,” said Roberts.

The former further said even today he is excited to see when someone runs in and bowls fast which is a rare sight in cricket today.

“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,” said Roberts, who turned 71 on Saturday.

Andy Roberts Took 202 Test Wickets And 87 ODI Wickets

Robert took 202 wickets in 47 Tests at a bowling average of 25.63 and 87 wickets in 56 ODI’s at a bowling average of 20.35. He belonged to the golden era of West Indies cricket and formed a formidable combination with Michael Holding, Joel Garner, Colin Croft and himself.

Talking of the ongoing U-19 World Cup, West Indies have won two games out of the four they have played so far. They lost against Australia, Sri Lanka and the UAE. England will face Afghanistan in the first semi-final (February 01), while India will face Australia in the second (February 02).

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