‘Feisty’ Kemar Roach brings a familiar Caribbean flavour to world cricket
Every single debate about the great West Indian bowling dates automatically back to the 1970s, where there was a world-famous pace quartet in the form of Joel Garner, Michael Holding, Colin Craft and Sir Andy Roberts. Since then, however, there has been only a handful of names who have made the cut.
The Caribbean flavour returned back to England in the 2000s, where the four-man pace attack of Courtney Walsh, Curtly Ambrose, Reon King, and Franklyn Rose made its impact on the English land. And ever since, the West Indian greatness has been rather associated with the likes of Brian Charles Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Chris Henry Gayle. In 2009, a young and fiery pacer made his Test debut against Bangladesh at Kingstown with Floyd Reifer leading the young colts.
A 21-year-old emerged from the bowling shed, with his blazing pace and amazing control over swing and accuracy but he left a lot to be desired. He brought on a familiar feeling for the West Indian management, who were counting on days before unearthing another gem of a pacer, eerily similar to Pakistan and their management. While Pakistan made its name for swing and accuracy, the Windies pacer brought in a feeling of insecurity and fear amongst the batsmen. Carved out of the same mould, the aggressive Kemar Roach was there in reckoning with his sheer pace and a deafening short-delivery. When he was found out by the batsmen in 2015, his comeback was far from being certain and his career far from being secure.
However, there is this aura that surrounded the 70s bowling attack, the sense of having a never-ending belief in themselves to make amends in any part of the world. That lacked for the longest time in the North American channel before the 2006 U-19 star came by and said hi. Despite being found out and being frozen out, the feisty pacer went back to the domestic circuit and worked endlessly before making his way back into the familiar setup.
So when he limped out with a hamstring in the first Test against Bangladesh, every West Indian fan around the globe was praying and hoping for a quick return. Not because they were missing the pacer’s efforts but before he walked out, he had already set the tone for the Test but in hindsight also set the tone for the future of the Windies pace battery. What made him special and set him apart from the other ‘generational talents’?
Since Kemar Roach's Test comeback in 2017, very few attacks have been as penetrative as Roach-Gabriel-Holder (big hat tip to India, though)
— Alan Gardner (@alanroderick) June 16, 2020
With Alzarri Joseph and Chemar Holder into the mix, you might not want to be an England batsman this summerhttps://t.co/Gdbc6jPHVa pic.twitter.com/cZDKkzLDpQ
Since marking his return in August 2017, the 5 feet 6 inches pacer had already left a mark that was more than just his height. In the 19 Test matches that Roach has played post the period, he has picked up 71 wickets at a staggering average of 21.81. Average certainly equates to his quality as a top pacer, with a wicket 46th ball that he bowls with the red ball. But more importantly, when you put his name on the same chart as some of the world’s best in recent times, you would find strikingly similar numbers. Since his return, he is sixth-best pacer in the world when it comes to strike-rates. On an average-basis, he is pretty much up there as the top five bowlers with the red-ball.
Just last year, his name was up there pretty much high on the list, with 27 wickets in the seven Tests that West Indies played throughout the course of the year. Barring the one game against Afghanistan, the Island nation played the rest of their encounters against India and England, arguably two of the best sides in the world.
At North Sound against India, he was a constant menace to the Indian top order in the first innings, where not only was he fast but also he was ideal for the movie title, Fast and Furious. Bowling sharply at 134kph, the West Indian got one to nip off very late to catch Mayank Agarwal on his backfoot. If you think that was a one-off dismissal, think again, he struck again with a similar delivery to pick off Cheteshwar Pujara. Now, thanks to his two dismissals, we have stereotyped him as a bowler who can pick wickets outside the off-stump channel. Yet when you look at his highlight reel from the last two years, you would find Ian Bishop with the words, “Yes, full at the stumps, brilliant from Roach,” “That’s the delivery Roach was searching for, he is running a riot here.” And all of this brilliance was seen together in tango during the series against England.
In the Caribbean, he picked up 18 wickets in that series, in just 96 overs, at an average of 13.88, striking every 32nd delivery. But what was more impressive from all of those statistics is his ability to disturb the batsman while also being genuinely quick. On the backdrop of the West Indian greats from the 80s and 90s, Roach was made of the same cloth but was born to play in a different era, where the folklore was already set in stone.
Once again in the clash at North Sound, he was at his best, unleashing a beast that was reminiscent of the bowlers from the era which also was the name of the stadium. It was almost reminiscent of Moltres, the legendary fire Pokemon species. This time around, he would be meaner, fitter and more hungry as the Dukes ball combined with the conditions in England would make it more bowler-friendly.
He would step on to the pitch alongside familiar figures of Jason Holder and Alzarri Joseph. But more importantly, this series presents the soon to be 32-year-old with a chance of leading an attack that has the best of the youths coming through in almost a decade. The likes of Chemar Holder, Keon Harding, Oshane Thomas might leapfrog to the playing XI when they take on England in the first Test. Crucially, Roach, throughout the era, has proved himself not to be just a wicket-taker but as one of the best West Indian pacer in the generation. Since the turn of the millennium, no pacer in the Caribbean has crossed the 200-wicket mark, with the 31-year-old just being seven shy of the 200-mark. Despite leaving an impression as the best Windies pacer in the 21st century, his goals are far from just his own game.
“It's good for West Indies fast-bowling. They're the future (Chemar, Keon, Oshane, Shannon, Alzarri). I'm very excited. I'm looking forward to working with the younger guys to take West Indies fast-bowling to the next level."