The Lighter Side

Vishwanath's Humour
Sir Neville Cardus
David Gower's Curry
Arthur Mailey
Mansur Ali Khan of Pataudi
Derek Randall
John McEnroe
Steve Ovett
Alec Bedser
Trueman's Wit
Jesse Owens
Fred Spofforth & the Ashes

Andy Roberts

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Anderson Montgomery Everton 'Andy- Roberts was born on 29 January 1951 on the island of Antigua in the West Indies. A tall fast bowler with powerful shoulders, he had an action which took very little off him in terms of energy, but allowed him to propel the ball at the batsman with high speed, venom and accuracy. He made his test debut against England at Bridgetown in 1973-4 and his ODI debut against Sri Lanka in the World Cup of 1975. He bade farewell to international cricket after the 1983-4 tour of India. Roberts was nominated Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1975.
Playing 47 tests, Roberts claimed 202 wickets at an average of 25.61 with 7-54 as his best figures. He also scored 762 runs, batting in the tail for the mighty West Indies side of the seventies. In 56 One Day Internationals, he claimed 87 wickets and scored 231 runs.
Roberts was the leader of the dreaded Caribbean pace quartet that terrorized test playing nations throughout the seventies and mid-eighties. A man who showed very little emotions, on or off the field, he was an intelligent cricketer. His fertile brain would plot the downfall of a batsman, using the double paced bouncer to good effect and getting extra pace and bounce off the wicket without any change in action.
Roberts went away from the game when he could still have won some matches for the West Indies off his own bowling, but introverted that he was, he felt jaded and bored towards the end of the Indian tour of 1983-4. Quitting early, he later became coach of the West Indies team and also a national selector.

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last updated on: 5/12/2021