Lillee was the finest, says Roberts

Special Correspondent

May 13, 2002

Most of us Indians thought that there was absolutely nobody in the West Indies who would have slept on that eventful night of June 25, 1983 when Kapil's Devils stunned the two-times world champions and became the new world champions at Lord's. Well, it is time to disabuse ourselves of that notion. Andy Roberts, one of the legendary West Indian quicks, who played in that match, for one, slept like a log on hitting the sack after a hard day's work in the field.

"Why shouldn't I have? We (the bowlers) had done our job and the Indians were restricted to just 183. In that particular match our batsmen failed to do what was expected of them.

"That the West Indies became unbeatable in that period was because of our bowling strength. We had the confidence that if our opponents had scored 50, we could have got their ten wickets within 49. During those days, Pakistan used to score more runs, even better than us. But their problem was their bowling. Our bowling-attack was easily the best," Roberts said. Who would disagree with him?

Was there any bowler who was better than him? Roberts' reply was instantaneous: "Dennis Lillee." He also liked the way Imran Khan and Richard Hadlee bowled. Among batsmen, his favourite was the peerless Vivian Richards.

Moving to the present, he has an axe to grind with the administrators who run cricket. He cannot easily forget the fact that he was asked to take a coaching degree when he expressed the desire to become a coach. "Why should I be interested in having coaching degree? What I already know, I had showed to the world. If I have to appear for a written test on that, I don't think that suits me. To me, a degree in coaching is simply a piece of paper."

The lack of the degree threatened to keep him from coaching the West Indian fast bowlers. "Yes, I wanted to work with the bowlers. Now, the West Indies cricket board has given me the scope to work with them. It's okay now," he said.

The man, whom many regard as the high priest of modern West Indian fast bowling, is still deeply attached to the game and regularly visits the Antigua Recreation Ground, his home ground which also happens to be venue of the ongoing fourth Test.

"I like it. Even if it is for five minutes, I come here," said Roberts, a bowler whom Sunil Gavaskar rated as the most dangerous he has ever faced.

For all his potency as a fast bowler, he was never one for sledging though. He let his deliveries and his small but very expressive eyes do all the talking.

"The Aussies say too many things about sledging. But if you ask me, I'll not be able to explain you what exactly sledging is. And as I didn't speak much on the field, opponent players didn't say much either.

"Only once Sadiq Mohammed had the courage of calling me a cheat when I was ruled not out by the umpire. I played the ball but Sadiq thought otherwise. I could not forget the incident since I'd never cheated on a cricket field. Later when Sadiq came to bat, I just glared at him. He was afraid and I could read it in his eyes," he recalled with a naughty smile.

It sure must have been fun to be Anderson Montgomery Everton Roberts those days.

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