West Indies legend Sir Andy Roberts has called for more aggression from the Caribbean fast bowlers ahead of the third and decisive Test against England which bowls off in Grenada tomorrow.
So far, bowlers have rarely managed to gain the ascendancy with the two previous pitches in Antigua and Barbados offering very little in the way of assistance. In the previous Test, a total of 1,238 runs were scored, including a deflating 507 for 9 declared by England in the first innings.
If the West Indies are to break the deadlock on the back of two prior draws, Roberts believes the region’s pace bowlers must give more effort at the crease to unsettle the English batsmen.
“Aggressive doesn’t mean you have to be up in somebody’s face, but you can be aggressive in your approach, you can be aggressive in your staring because that’s one of the things I did. I never swore but when I looked at you and I see you turn away, then I say ‘yes, I have you because you can’t look me in the eye’, and that is what is required,” Roberts told the Good Morning Jojo Radio program in his homeland.
“I see many West Indian fast bowlers going back to the days of Mervyn Dillion, Reon King, and when they get hit for boundaries they smile, they don’t get upset,” he said.
Roberts added: “The ball doesn’t come off the pitch faster than you release it, so if you’re a fast bowler then it means you’re a fast bowler, you can’t be a fast bowler and a fast-medium bowler. What is being taught today is line and length and bowl fourth and fifth stump outside the off stump, but instead of attacking the batsman, attacking the stumps, they are bowling outside of off stump, which is what they practise. So sometimes it seems as though the coaches are at fault. In order to get the best out of the fast bowlers, you have to encourage them to bowl fast.”
(SportsMax)
