BRISBANE, Australia, CMC – Veteran seamer Kemar Roach has warned understudy Shamar Joseph to be wary of “distractions” after his huge impact on the opening Test against Australia last week.
The 24-year-old, with only five first class matches under his belt, produced a stunning effort on debut to claim five wickets in the first innings at Adelaide Oval, emerging as the brightest spark for the tourists amid their 10-wicket thrashing inside three days.
With the Twenty20 franchise leagues now likely to come calling, Roach urged Joseph to be clear in what his objectives were.
“The best advice I can give him is to build his own legacy,” said the 35-year-old Roach, who has featured in 80 Tests since making his debut 15 years ago.
“Understand what you want from cricket. That’s up to him to determine if it’s monetary or if it’s just statistics.
“There’s going to be a lot of distractions, he’s a hot commodity right now.”
Roach is the leader of an inexperienced fast-bowling unit, with Alzarri Joseph the only other bowler with significant Test experience with 31 Tests.
Justin Greaves, who made his debut in Adelaide, and the uncapped Akeem Jordan are the two other seamers on tour.
Roach, who lies fifth on the all-time West Indies list with 267 wickets, said his experience would be key to the development of the new generation of fast bowlers.
“I had that when I started – Jerome Taylor, Darren Powell, Fidel Edwards – guys who [were] willing to help me when I started my career,” Roach said.
“I took knowledge and learning from it. For me now, it’s all about passing on the mantle down to the youngsters.”
West Indies take on Australia in the second Test here starting Thursday, hoping to level the series after their heavy loss last week.
And Roach said their first innings performance in bowling out Australia for 288 had been a great boost for the Caribbean side ahead of their series finale.
“I thought we handled ourselves pretty well with the ball [in the opening Test],” Roach said.
“[We] fought back into the game. Bowling Australia out in under 90 overs – that’s a major achievement for a young bowling line-up.
“It’s a confidence builder for the group and [now] it’s about us communicating and planning well again. [It’s a] pink ball so it’s going to be a little bit different.”