Roach-Less And Toothless
Sri Lanka punish West Indies attack
After their emphatic first-Test win the West Indies’ bowling struggled to contain Sri Lanka in the first innings of the second Test. That the visitors went to stumps on the first day at 338/5 does not suggest total dominance. But they scored at a brisk 4.07 runs per over, and the hosts’ position was significantly improved by the two wickets they grabbed in the dying moments.
Lahiru Udara and Kamindu Mendis added 215 for the third wicket at well over five runs per over, with the opener scoring a mammoth 188 and Mendis falling for 84. They dictated proceedings whilst they were in attendance at the crease as the West Indies struggled to contain them.
They motored on during the second day, eventually running up a huge total of 549/9 declared. The major protagonists on this day were Sonal Dinusha, who made 92 and Kusal Mendis, 69. Adding 143 for the sixth wicket they were less forthright than their comrades did the previous day but they were killing the West Indies’ chances of winning the game with every run.
And it’s not like the pitch was totally benign. It seemed to play much like it did during the first Test: good for batting with a little help for the fast men.There was swing on offer and the wobbled seam elicited some movement off the pitch.
So why did the Sri Lanka batters thrive in the second Test after faltering in the first? How did a team dismissed for 308 and 101 a few days earlier come to be piling on runs with such ease?
It could be that their batters were now more acclimatized. Their experiences in the first game possibly made them more comfortable in the conditions and with the Dukes ball’s prouder seam providing more swing and deviation off the pitch. The batters may have learnt from their errors from the first Test and were now better prepared. Or, was it that the West Indies attack was missing one key component with the absence of Kemar Roach.
The veteran Barbadian pacer was the most successful bowler in the first Test, capturing six wickets. Along the way he increased his Test haul to 300, solidifying his place amongst the fast bowling elites from the Caribbean. The West Indies missed his control and his consistency. Gone were his hooping inswingers to the right-handers, threatening pads and stumps and inside edges, the kind that struck Nishan Madushka LBW in the second innings. The West Indies also had to do without the threat he provided to the left-handers with balls angling in before swinging away or straightening from a wobbled seam. Those methods have made him one of the most lethal bowlers in the game to left-handed batters.
The searing pace he commanded before age and injury intervened had gone. In its place he cultivated skill, guile and the ability to apply relentless pressure.
One of the more memorable duels of his youth was one against one of the game’s foremost players of fast bowling, Ricky Ponting. It was in Perth in January 2009. He bowled five overs, conceded 26 runs, and captured a single wicket, but his pace so disconcerted the great Ricky Ponting that the burst decidedly enhanced the reputation of the young pacer from St Lucy, Barbados.
Thirty-four at the time, Ponting, admittedly, was a little past his prime. Trotting out his famed pull shot first ball, he found it was on to him too quickly. For the second ball he tried a similar shot to a similar ball and was struck a painful blow on his elbow. The battle waged back and forth over a period of four or so overs, with both landing blows. Ponting, elbow throbbing with pain, was discomfited by a number of short deliveries from the pacer, some of them touching speeds of over 90 mph. The young upstart was establishing his reputation by challenging the aging gunslinger.
In the end, Ponting retired hurt from the blow, and never returned to the fray for the remainder of the innings. Honours stood just about even, for though Roach gave the great man a torrid time, he was never able to capture his wicket. However, his reputation as a bowler of uncompromising pace was bolstered.
Australia toured the West Indies in 2011-2012 and Roach had his only ten-wicket haul in Tests when he captured 10/146 in Port-of-Spain. He was going along his merry way when he was stopped in his tracks by serious injuries to ankle, knee and shoulder. To make matters worse he was traumatized by a scary car accident that did little damage to his body but he admitted affected his psyche.
It took a while for him to recover, and even longer for him to regain his best form. He didn’t, in fact, until around 2017 when he left behind the tearaway he was in his youth and grew into the wily campaigner that he is today.
Where he exceeded 90 mph at his fastest, he now operated in the low 80s. Assisted by coaches Peter Vaughn and Richard Straker, his accuracy improved and he displayed a much better command of swing and seam. Where he previously tried to bludgeon batters out with high pace and hostility, he now employed more refined means of getting wickets.
For some time now Roach has been a master practitioner of the fast-bowling arts and still the most demanding fast bowler available to the West Indies. In his absence the Sri Lanka batters made hay and put his comrades to the sword. Without him they seemed to lack direction and control and the visiting batters roamed freely and played expansively.
Not that the other fast men are inept. Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Joseph and Jayden Seales have all shown they possess pace and quality and have all had some success. But without their leader they appeared to lose their way at times, and Sri Lanka took advantage.
At 38 I doubt Roach has many Test matches left in him. And the West Indies will need to get his wickets and his leadership from elsewhere. It will be difficult to replace him, especially at home where he has been a giant of a performer despite his diminutive stature. There will be two Tests against Pakistan in Trinidad and Tobago in July and August and Roach will likely play those. But who knows what will happen afterwards, especially since the next Test engagements will be against India and Bangladesh away. Still, whenever he goes, the man whose name is now mentioned alongside those of the ilk of Michael Holding, Joel Garner, Courtney Walsh, Curtly Ambrose, Malcolm Marshall and others, will be missed.