Kemar Roach needed one wicket on Sunday to reach 300 in Test cricket. He did not keep the crowd in Antigua waiting for long. Bowling from wide of the crease just after lunch, he speared a full delivery into Asitha Fernando’s off stump and set off on a quiet, almost stunned celebration. Tears followed. The 37-year-old – he turns 38 later this month – is now the fourth West Indian quick, and fifth bowler overall, to touch the mark after Courtney Walsh, Curtly Ambrose, Malcolm Marshall and spinner Lance Gibbs.
“Thank you very much, everyone. I really appreciate it,” he said after being handed a commemorative shirt by Jayden Seales. “All the people supporting me over the years, I’m glad and very proud in some way. But for me right now, I just want to bask in the moment, celebrate this Test win, and then win the series as well.”
West Indies did plenty of celebrating. Roach’s four wickets helped finish Sri Lanka off for 167, sealing an innings-and-217-run victory inside four days and putting the hosts on the World Test Championship table with maximum points. New captain Roston Chase and new head coach Daren Sammy each collected maiden wins in their roles, milestones Roach was quick to share.
“It’s been a long journey, man,” he reflected later in the dressing-room area. “I’m happy the guys won the game, that’s the most important thing. I think the win is what we needed to get ourselves on the [World Test] Championship table. So, well done to the team, Roston Chase on his first win as captain. Sammy on his first win as well as coach. But, you know what, it’s been a long journey. It took a lot to be here. I want to be here for all these guys, everyone supporting me, especially Denis Byam.
“I want to mention Denis Byam immensely. He’s the team physio and we’ve had countless conversations for the last couple of weeks. Obviously coming back from injury, a lot of work had to be done to get myself out here to play this Test match. He was phenomenal, man. All my family, I know my mum is watching, she’s proud. My kids, all my friends at home. I know everyone’s watching now, just this day today. I want to thank all the Antigua fans for coming out and supporting the team.”
Those injuries have forced Roach to adapt. The high-80s miles-per-hour thunderbolts of his early career have given way to skilful manipulation of the crease, a stubborn length and the now-fashionable wobble-seam ball. Sammy, who captained Roach more than a decade ago, could not hide his admiration.
“I think his first Test wicket was caught Daren Sammy [Dale Richards] against Shakib Al Hasan [in 2009]. For me the most important thing about Kemar is the way he reinvents himself,” Sammy said. “He’s lost a little bit of pace over the years…and you could see the emotions on his face. I think he’s in the top five now for the West Indies. His leadership, we talk about it. Probably, he’s getting older and you have Shamar [Joseph] and you have Alzarri [Joseph] and you have Jayden Seales. Bringing him back for the conditions in New Zealand and manage him – he was coming from injury.
“The legend of the man he is – in the dressing room, he’s a leader. Every time the captain calls on, he creates a chance for us and that’s important.”
Statistics back Sammy up. Since the start of 2019, Roach averages a shade under 23 with the ball, better than his career figure of 26.14. The dip in pace seems to have sharpened his accuracy; nearly 60% of his deliveries in this match landed on what coaches call a “hit-the-top-of-off” line. Sri Lanka’s batters, on a surface offering low but consistent bounce, rarely looked settled against him.
There was still room for one vintage snorter: a short ball that climbed at Dinesh Chandimal and took the glove. It reminded the crowd – and perhaps Roach himself – that the old pace has not completely deserted him.
For all the personal milestones, the victory mattered most to a West Indian side rebuilding again. Missing several senior players, Chase leaned heavily on Roach and fellow senior seamer Jason Holder to guide a new-look attack featuring Shamar Joseph and Seales. The pair combined for 14 wickets in the match, while debutant opener Mikyle Louis’s brisk 86 set up a hefty first-innings total of 445.
Sri Lanka, by contrast, looked undercooked. Their bowling struggled to maintain pressure once the shine came off the new ball, and three of their top six managed only single-figure scores in each innings. Captain Dimuth Karunaratne admitted afterwards they had been “outplayed in every department”.
Roach was asked whether 350 wickets, or even Walsh’s West Indian record of 519, could be a realistic target. He smiled.
“I’m not thinking that far, man. Just keeping fit, enjoying the game, helping the guys around me – that’s where my head is. If the wickets come, they come.”
For now, basking seems entirely justified.
