Roach ready to lead the attack

Kemar Roach

Bridgetown, Barbados – Fast bowler Kemar Roach is ready to step-up again and lead the West Indies bowling attack in the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka. The soft-spoken 22-year-old is set to use the new ball in the series which features three Tests, five One-Day Internationals and a T20 Internationals. The Windies are expected to arrive in Colombo on Sunday morning.

“I believe I have prepared well and I’m excited about the possibilities as I look ahead to this tour. We had a good camp in Barbados and we did some hard work … it was a lot of hard work but I enjoyed every moment of it. It was good preparation, the ideal kind of preparation, for a tour like this,” he said.

Roach took over as head of the pace attack during last year’s tour of Australia and did an excellent job and has continued the good showing at the international level. He can consistently top 90 miles-per-hour, he has the ability to swing the new ball and can get reverse swing with the old ball.

This is the second time Roach will be heading to Sri Lanka. His first trip was back in 2006 with the West Indies team at the International Cricket Council Under-19 World Cup.

“The pitches in Sri Lanka are quite flat but ball tends to swing a bit. If you can get it right as a fast bowler, you can be quite successful. I have been working on swinging the with the coach. I still have a little bit of work to do on my lengths, but I’m satisfied with what I got out of the camp,” Roach said. “It will be challenging but I’m willing to take on the challenge and do what the captain wants me to do and what is required to help the team.”

Roach has so far taken 26 wickets in seven Tests at 29.6 and another 26 wickets at 21.3 in 13 One-Dayers.

WEST INDIES SQUAD: Darren Sammy (Captain), Brendan Nash (Vice Captain), Adrian Barath, Carlton Baugh, Sulieman Benn, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Shiv Chanderpaul, Chris Gayle, Nelon Pascal, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Shane Shillingford, Devon Smith, Devon Thomas

TEAM MANAGEMENT UNIT: Ottis Gibson (Head Coach), Joel Garner (Team Manager), David Williams (Assistant Coach), C.J Clark (Physiotherapist), Richard Berridge (Video & Statistical Analyst), Hector Martinez Charles (Strength & Conditioning Co-ordinator), Philip Spooner (Media Relations Officer), Virgil Browne (Massage Therapist), Courtney Browne (WICB Selector)

Tour schedule
November 10-12: Warm-up match at SSC, Colombo
November 15-19: 1st Test at Galle International Stadium, Galle
November 23-27: 2nd Test at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
December 1-5: 3rd Test at Pallekele Cricket Stadium, Kandy
December 9: 1st ODI at Suriyawewa Stadium, Hambantota
December 11: 2nd ODI at Suriyawewa Stadium, Hambantota
December 15: 3rd ODI at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
December 17: 4th ODI at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
December 19: 5th ODI at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
December 21: T20 International at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo