In this week’s edition of In Search of West Indies Cricket, the second of two parts, Roger Seymour looks at the legacy of Andy Roberts. The first instalment, ‘Lethal weapon’, which examined Roberts’ meteoric ascent was published on 5th May.
The quiet man
On 21st June, 1975, the Summer Solstice, West Indies cricket fans were basking in the glow of the sun on the longest day of the year. Their team had just captured the inaugural Prudential World Cup. They were sitting on top of the world, and had few, if any, unanswered questions. Well, there was still the question of who really was this young fast bowler Andy Roberts, who had plummeted into the limelight the previous year.
Television coverage of cricket in the Caribbean was non-existent, and the Shield Shell Tournament – which spanned one month, 14th March to 14th April – had served as the entire first-class season since there was not a home Test series. Roberts was still an enigma to most of the region. One of the few insights came from an article in the cricket media guide released in the Caribbean, ‘The Players 1975’ published by Allied Printers Limited – the ads suggested that it was a Trinidad & Tobago publication. It was a reprint from a UK newspaper, The Guardian; ‘Andy Roberts’ by John Arlott, one of the leading English cricket commentators (broadcasting every England home Test match from 1946 to 1980), and writers, revealing the thoughts of a shrewd observer of the intricacies of the game.
