Legendary fast bowlers produced by Windies

#5 Sir Andy Roberts

Sir Andy Roberts

David 'Bumble' Lloyd once remarked that all the sledging by Aussie pacemen Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thompson didn't bother him as much as a death stare by Sir Andy Roberts. "After you've played and missed a few, Sir Andy would stand right in front of you and stare you right in the eye for about 10 seconds and that was enough for me to fear for my life", he said.

The first Antigua player to play Test cricket, Sir Anderson Montgomery Everton Roberts debuted against England in 1974 aged 23. His stock delivery was the bouncer, of which he could bowl two kinds. The first was a slower one, which the batsman would hit for runs pretty easily. Sir Roberts would then land the ball in the same spot as the first, but this second bouncer would be bowled at a much greater pace and would generate much greater bounce. Batsmen, who had played the first bouncer well, would try to play this bouncer in the same manner only to be befuddled by the zip generated from the wicket. This process, invariably, had only two results for the batsman: wicket or injury. Countless batsmen had fallen for this trap, even late in his career, when everyone was expecting that fast bouncer. This is a testament to the great man’s talent, accuracy and guile.

Sir Andy picked up 202 wickets in just 47 Tests at an average of 26 and a strike rate of 53. He also took 87 wickets at an average of 20 and a strike rate of 36. He was a part of two World Cup-winning sides in 1975 and 1979 and was the runner-up in 1983.

Roberts was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Nation (KCN) by the Antiguan Barbudan Government on 28 February 2014.