Sports
ROACH JOINS 300 CLUB
by David Harris
Fast bowler Kemar Roach bowled Asitha Fernando to claim in his 300 th Test wicket during the first Test between the West Indies and Sri Lanka at the Sir Vivian Richards Staduim in Antigua on Sunday.
Roach, 37, is the fifth West Indies to achieve this milestone; the other are fast bowlers Courtney Walsh (519) Sir Curtley Ambrose (405), Malcolm Marshall (376) and off-spinner Lance Gibbls (309). His teammates celebrated the milestone enthusiastically, and the he was presented with a West Indies shirt mark “300”.
“It has been a long journey ” Roach said after the match. “It took a lot to be here; I wanted to be for all these guys, especially Denis Byam. I want to thank Denis immensely, he is the team physio and we had countless conversations for the last couple of weeks. Obviously coming back from an injury, a lot of work had to be done to get me out here to play this Test. I know my mum is watching and she is proud. My kids, all of my friends at home. I know everyone is watching now. I want to thank all the Antiguans fans for coming out at supporting the team”.
Roach reached the landmark in his 89 th Test, he made his Test debut on July 9, 2009 against Bangladesh at the Arnos Vale Ground in St Vincent. His first Test wicket was the Bangladeshi star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan.
A year ago, Roach’s career as a Test cricketer seemed to be over, when he was not included in the 16 -man squad to face Australia in the three-match Test series. Along with regular fast bowlers Jayden Seales, Alzarri Joseph, and Shamar Joseph, the selectors opted to go with uncapped 21-year Johann Layne as the fourth pace.
At that time Roach had played 85 Tests and captured 284 wickets, but Cricket West Indies director of cricket Miles Bascombe said the veteran pacer was not in the West Indies’ plans for the future. Bascombe revealed that he and the head coach Darren Sammy had spoken to Roach about their plans to move forward without him.
“Kemar has been excellent for the West Indies, and we had a conversation with him and let know the direction that we wanted to go. It was no slight on what he has done for West Indies cricket, but again, we are planning World Test Championship 2027 to 2029, and at some point, we have to be able to really put down some markers that we have planning for the future”, Bascombe said.
“It wasn’t the easiest of conversations to have and it’s difficult to in one breath to tell someone that you are moving on, but in the same breath try to get them to understand that it’s no slight on their contribution to West Indies cricket. But like I said, I just wanted to ensure that we had that conversation out of respect for what he did. So, myself, and the head coach were part of that discussion, but I think that at some point we have to move on -and at the start of a new Test Championship is as good a time as any”, Bascombe added.
After the West Indies were humiliated in the Test series against Australia, and were whitewashed by India in a two- match Test series on the Asian continent, Roach was selected the West Indies tour to New Zealand in December 2025. Roach who will be celebrating his 38 th on June 30 th, took the opportunity with both hands and has joined an elite band of bowlers that have dismissed 300 batsmen in Test cricket. Roach who was born in Checker Hall, St Lucy, is the 41st bowler to captured 300 or more wickets in Test cricket.
