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Andy Roberts, born #onthisday 1951.
He used to walk back to his mark, the eyes cold and calculating, the face expressionless and half hidden behind the beard, the shoulders hunched and alert, the mien brooding and ruthless.
Andy Roberts, born #onthisday 1951.
He used to walk back to his mark, the eyes cold and calculating, the face expressionless and half hidden behind the beard, the shoulders hunched and alert, the mien brooding and ruthless.
Then he would turn and rush in, building up speed along the way, exploding as he reached the crease. His arm would come over, at right angles to his torso, but would reach a height as his shoulder dipped. He would glide along his right toecap, hit the crease with his full weight.
The leather streaked out of his hand in a blur of red, zooming towards the batsman at a rate rarely matched. The natural movement from off to leg, but sometimes away swing would flummox the best. Often the ball would lift sharply putting the batsmen in immense physical peril.
To make life miserable & endangered, the bouncer had 2 variations The slower encouraging the hook, lulling men into false sense of security The other rushing through with violent force, often crashing into the body, sometimes the face, always resulting in a thud against the heart
Many a time a batsman lost his wicket, often a stump or two, and not infrequently blood and teeth.
The reaction would remain the same. Whether the catch was held, or woodwork went for a cartwheel, or the ball crashed into the face rearranging features forever, Roberts would peer at the result of his handiwork, mull over it behind his expressionless face & walk back to his mark
At Queen’s Park Oval in 1977-78, Peter Toohey had shaped to hook — rather, we should say he had dared to. The ball had struck him on the forehead, just above the bridge of the nose, with a sound that still recurs in the worst nightmares of many who were at the ground that day.
The batsman, tottered, fell, and was held in the throes of unconsciousness in the strong arms of Viv Richards. Desperate gestures were made towards the pavilion.
The face of Roberts didn't change. He went up to the spot where near murder had taken place, interested in the outcome in the dispassionate manner of the academic. “The sympathy was here,” he said later, pointing towards his heart. Not a flicker of emotion disturbed his visage.
How fast was he? Gordon Greenidge often wore a protective box, while fielding to Roberts in the slips.
He was lethal, laconic and menacing. Michael Holding approached the crease in silence and was named Whispering Death. At the other end, Roberts was the Silent Assassin, with a chilling lack of animation while carrying out his deeds of destruction.
He was the pioneer – in more than one way. Before he arrived, not many had heard of Antigua, certainly not the cricketing fraternity. There had been no Test player from the tiny island. Roberts was the first, closely followed by Viv Richards.
And then they came one after the other —Baptiste, Richardson, Benjamin, another Benjamin, Ambrose and Jacobs. No one could hold them back any more.
Finally, he was the undisputed leader of the pack — a pack such as the world has never seen before or since. A pack that roared in a chorus of fours, and terrorised and conquered the world.
He was the first of many men who ran up to the wicket for the great WI team & pulverised batsmen with pace like fire. The pool of talent was enormous. Holding, Croft, Daniel, Garner, Marshall — later Walsh, Bishop and Ambrose. Among all of them, Roberts remained the trendsetter.
In all the 47 Tests he played, he shared the new ball. In all but eight, he bowled the first over. Even among the immense treasure trove of riches, he stood out as a special gem.
Born in the Urlings Village in Antigua, he was one of the fourteen children of an island fisherman. Strangely, he never played his first cricket match until he left school at the age of 16.
By the time he finished his career Roberts had captured 202 wkts in 47 Tests, at 25.61, with 11 fifers and 2 10-fors. Slightly lesser in numbers than Marshall, Garner and Holding, but almost always appearing at the top of the bowling analysis. In ODIs, he took 87 wickets at 20.35
