A cold-eyed clinical killer

``Andy Roberts is the finest fast bowler I have ever faced.'' - Sunil Gavaskar.

THE SUNNY statement says it all. Andy Roberts, who is going to celebrate his 50th birthday on Jan. 29, was not only a complete fast bowler but one of the greatest of all- time.

In an era which saw an impressive array of speed merchants, Roberts had carved a special niche for himself. If Australia boasted of Dennis Lillee, England of Bob Willis, New Zealand of Richard Hadlee and Pakistan of Imran Khan in the 1970s, the West Indies took pride in the first ever Antiguan to play in the national team.

It was because of Roberts that Clive Lloyd, one of the most successful captains, could think of relying totally on fast bowling only for his side success anywhere in the world; in any wicket, any condition. Lloyd's belief was strengthened with the arrival and instant success of Michael Holding.

The two were soon joined by Colin Croft and Joel Garner. Roberts, Holding, Croft and Garner formed such a deadly quartet that Lloyd never ever required a spinner. They came to be referred to as the Fearsome Foursome.

It was no coincidence that Roberts always bowled the first over, no matter who else was in the side, except in India in 1983, which turned out to be his last Test series. No, it had nothing to to do with his seniority but everything to do with his exceptional skills when armed with the cherry.

Lloyd already had some explosive batsmen at his command and so long as the four were around, and bowling in tandem, a West Indian win was always a foregone conclusion nine times out of ten. The Fearsome Foursome made Lloyd's task a lot easier, whether it was Test cricket or one-day cricket.

One of the reasons why Roberts, Holding, Croft and Garner did not take 300 Test wickets despite being so talented was that they invariably shared the spoils among themselves. Unlike Hadlee and Kapil Dev, who had no support at the other end, who had so many overs to bowl, the Fearsome Foursome did not have to labour much.

Unlike Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose and all the present-day West Indian speedsters, who have to bowl marathon spells at times, Roberts, Holding, Croft and Garner would not get a second spell in an innings! It is a vital piece of statistics that Roberts bowled an average of only 39 overs per Test, Croft and Garner 38 each and Holding ``got off lightly'' with just 35 during their outstanding careers.

Not until he was 16 did Roberts play cricket at all. He was more interested in studies. In fact, his parents wanted him to study architecture. Instead, Roberts became an artichect of the stunning success story of the West Indies.

By no means the usual, spontaneous West Indian fast bowler, Roberts was a rare combination of fire, settled physique and mature mind. He was a cold-eyed clinical killer who hammered away mercilessly at a batsman's weak spot.

Versatility had become synonymous with Roberts the fast bowler. Besides his brutal pace, ``demoralising'' yorker, vicious late outswinger and a shrewdly disguised slower ball, what made Roberts a dangerous customer was his judicious use of bouncers.

The Antiguan, who had studied the mechanics of cricket, could bowl three different types of bouncers. One was the high bouncing type. Another one, more dangerous, skidded through and made for the head. Then there was this `slow' bouncer, dropped short but was too `slow' for the batsman to hook with confidence. Soon afterwards would come the high-speed bouncer!

The accusations that Roberts bowled too many bouncers were certainly not unfounded even though he bowled in an era when there was no rule like ``only two bouncers per over''. In the 1976 Manchester Test in particular, Roberts and Holding subjected the aging Brian Close and John Edrich to a ``cruel bombardment''.

Lloyd, who always backed his players to the hilt, defended Roberts and Holding saying, ``Our bowlers got carried away'', one of the less laudable remarks made by a fielding captain. He had used similar tactics against the Indian batsmen, who blunted it at times, in the previous series in the Caribbean.

Of the two, Holding was apparently intimidating at times. Alan Gibson, the great English critic, did make this comment in favour of Roberts: ``I never thought him one of the worst offenders. Perhaps because he was so very fast his bouncers commanded more attention than those of others.''

Roberts and Holding, supported by Wayne Daniel and Vanburn Holder, enjoyed a rewarding tour against the hapless English batsmen, each taking nearly 30 wickets in the four-Test rubber. But it was Roberts who was more consistent of all the West Indian bowlers, considering that Holding had a rich haul of 14 wickets in a single Test. Holding, who got along well with Roberts, on and off the field, always regarded the Antiguan as the best of all fast bowlers he played with or against.

It was in India and Pakistan in 1974-75 that Roberts first showed the extent of his talent. In the subcontinent he gave a brilliant exhibition of high quality fast bowling and took more wickets than anyone else. If anything, Roberts took 32 wickets against India and won the series 3-2 for his team under the heavy handicap of being a fast bowler operating on spinner-friendly pitches.

In Chennai in particular Roberts fired on all cylinders and made life miserable for all the Indian batsmen save one. When Roberts ran through the innings and sent the Indians packing for 190 in the first essay, Gundappa Visvanath was the only batsman to emerge with his head high. If Roberts displayed fast bowling in all its glory against heavy odds, Visvanath gave a fine exhibition of superb batsmanship, paying scant respect to the man with deadly designs.

It was a classic encounter between a champion fast bowler and a master batsman and none deserved to lose the battle. At the end of it all, there was poetic justice, too. While Roberts scalped seven Indian wickets, Visvanath remained unconquered on 97.

Although the calypso charmers were devastated down under in 1976, surrendering the rubber 5-1 to Greg Chappell's powerful Australian side, Roberts was one of the few West Indian players who had his reputation intact. It was, of course, after this humiliation, inflicted by Lillee and Jeff Thomson, that Lloyd vowed to let loose an army of hostile fast bowlers spearheaded by Roberts. Indian batsmen became their first target, followed by the Englishmen.

``I will never forget how Andy, when I was well past a hundred, the ball, 60 overs old, brought so many balls back from way outside the off stump, literally cutting them viciously over the middle stump. He followed that with two perfectly pitched leg cutters in the next over and marvelled at the versatility of the man,'' said, Sunil Gavaskar, one of the few successful batsmen against Roberts. ``He made you play almost all the deliveries. 95 per cent of the deliveries he sent down you had to play and that was the greatness of Andy.''

Roberts was a very reliable batsman down the order. He could attack savagely (he once hit Ian Botham for four sixes in a Test over in England in 1980) and he could defend dourly (like in India in 1983 when he shared a major partnership with Lloyd at the fag end of a West Indian innings). He had played some short but sweet innings at crucial junctures. It was Roberts' batting that won the match from the jaws of defeat against Pakistan in the 1975 World Cup.Nicknamed ``Fruity'' because of his favourite drink, orange juice, Roberts neither drank nor smoke. He tended to be quiet to the point of being withdrawn, even in the dressing room. Like any West Indian cricketer, Roberts also loved his music. He had taste for what American novelists used to call home-spun philosophy.

Liked more by other cricketers than some of his own teammates because of his ``embarrassingly'' shy nature, Roberts had the rare honour of being publicly invested with the CBE when the Queen visited Antigua in 1985.

HARESH PANDYA

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