Name:

Roberts, Anderson Montgomery Everton

Nickname:

Andy, Hit Man

Date of Birth:

29 Jan 1951

Gender:

Men

Place of Birth:

Urlings, Saint Mary, Antigua and Barbuda

Career:

Test: 1974 - 1983
ODI: 1975 - 1983
First Class: 1969 - 1984

Teams:

West Indies (Country)
Antigua and Barbuda (Regional)

'I think we're playing too much Test cricket' - Andy Roberts

Andy Roberts: Silent killer who led the four prong Windies attack

Born : 29 January 1951 at Urlings Village, Antigua

Andy Roberts was a fearsome fast bowler who was part of the great West Indies fast-bowling attack of the 1970s and 1980s. He generated great pace from his broad shoulders and used the bouncer effectively.

He reached 100 wickets in just 19 Tests, taking 32 wickets at an average of 18.28 in his first full series in India in 1974/75.

He appeared in all three of the West Indies World Cup finals in 1975, 1979 and 1983. He played county cricket for Hampshire and Leicestershire, taking 119 wickets at an average of 13.62 for the former in 1974. His batting was very moderate to begin with, but he improved enough to make three Test fifties in the latter part of his career.

Robets did some coaching in retirement, including a relatively brief spell in charge of West Indies.

Deadpan and deadly. Wicket or boundary, not a flicker of emotion would be evident save a gunslinger's narrowing of the eyes. Andy Roberts kept his emotions in check. But under the veneer was an intelligent cricketer with a fertile brain, plotting and planning the downfall of batsmen as if it were a military campaign.

The modern West Indian game based on the heavy artillery of fast bowlers, that served so well for a quarter of a century, began with him. Here was a bowler whose pace came from timing, with power from a huge pair of shoulders. His bouncer was regarded as one of the most dangerous. He varied its pace, often setting batsmen up with a slower one and then pole-axing them when they were late on the quickie.

It took Roberts less than two and a half years to reach 100 Test wickets, the quickest at that point, and his best years were unquestionably in the middle 1970s, before the Packer revolution. Later he became jaded, and the edge went from his pace, although his experience and ability to move the ball kept him in Test cricket until 1983-84.