PERTH, Australia, CMC – Former Australia captain Steve Waugh says West Indies will find it difficult to win the final Test at the WACA next week because even though fast bowler Kemar Roach was an excellent find, he lacked support in the pace department.
“If Jerome Taylor or Fidel Edwards were about to support him the West Indies would be a real chance [at the WACA],” Waugh told local media here.
“I don’t think the West Indies can win because they don’t have enough bowlers to take 20 wickets. I consider Roach a real talent, and it is fantastic they’ve found him but I don’t think there is anyone else in the squad who can bowl quick.” West Indies are chasing a series-levelling win after losing the first Test by an innings in Brisbane and then drawing in Adelaide. The 21-year-old Roach, whose sustained pace on relatively flat wickets has already rattled the Aussie batsmen, has been handpicked by several ex-Test players to be a handful on the bouncy WACA strip. But Waugh, who led Australia in 57 of his 168 Tests between 1985 and 2004, said Roach was deserving of the support evident in the pace batteries of the past and not the medium pacers he was currently being paired with.
“Ravi Rampaul and Darren Sammy aren’t the answer in Perth,” Waugh lamented.
“I feel a bit sorry for Roach because he’s worthy of the [Curtly] Ambrose and [Courtney] Walsh, the [Malcolm] Marshall and [Michael] Holding-type combinations.
“The Windies always had great bowling combinations but he’s had to do it all himself here.”
Roach has already taken 17 wickets in four Tests following his Test debut in July against Bangladesh. His two Tests on tour so far have yielded just four wickets but two of them have been the scalp of Aussie captain Ricky Ponting.
Australia’s marquee batsman, Ponting has already admitted Roach will be a troublesome at the WACA.
“He’ll be a handful in Perth,” Ponting said following the Adelaide Test.
“Anyone that’s bowling that sort of pace will trouble any batter, especially later in the game when the bounce gets a bit variable. That’s when you’re at your most vulnerable against guys who bowl at that sort of pace.”
