One of the well-known former first-class cricketers is Andy Roberts. He was very famous during his time as a player because of his techniques and expressionless face. Read the article to know more about Andy Roberts personal life and professional career in detail.

Andy Roberts Biography

Sir Anderson Montgomery Everton Roberts is a former Antiguan First-class cricketer. He is regarded as the father of modern West Indian fast bowling. He was honored with the title KCN (Knight Commander) which is the order of chivalry in Antiguan and Barbuda for his services to cricket. He played Test cricket for the West Indies in which he twice took seven wickets in a Test inning. In 1972, he reached England where he played first-class cricket for Hampshire County Cricket Club and after that for Leicestershire County Cricket Club. He is a right-handed batsman and right-arm fast bowler and especially played as a bowler.

He was the first Antiguan to play Test cricket for the West Indies and thus he opened the way for many of his famous countrymen which included Viv Richards, Richie Richardson, and Curtly Ambrose. He was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2009.

Early Life and Personal Details

Andy Roberts was born on 29 January 1951 in Urlings, Saint Mary, Antigua, and Barbuda. He is currently 71 years old. His nickname is Hit Man. He is 6 feet 2 inches tall.

International Career as a Cricketer

From the mid-70s to the early 80s, he formed part of the “quartet” of West Indies fast bowlers that had such a devastating effect on opposition batsmen at both Test and One Day International level. During that time, other members were Michael Holding, Joel Garner, and Colin Croft. Moreover, in 1975 and 1979, he was also part of the West Indies team which won the first two Prudential World Cups in England.

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By his analysis, the best spell Roberts ever delivered was during the time of the Headingley Test of the West Indies 1976 tour of England. He stated that “I only got three wickets, but in my mind, there was a decision given against me. It was a leg-before decision against Peter Willey where he played right back onto his stumps to a fuller delivery. I would have bowled England out that afternoon if the Umpire had given me the decision”. Despite having an excellent record in tests, his International Career was relatively short and it ended in 1983. Imran Khan who is the former captain of the Pakistan National Cricket Team described a ball that was bowled to him by Andy Roberts as the fastest and most terrifying ball he had ever faced.

One of his labels was the use of two different bouncers in which one was delivered at a slower pace and was usually dealt with quite easily by the batsman. However, this was a trick by Roberts to steer the batsman into a false sense of security. After that Robert would deliver the second bouncer in which pitch is in a similar spot to the first but delivered at a far greater pace. But the batsman would attempt to play this delivery in the same fashion as the first slower bouncer only to be surprised by the extra pace and bounce the ball. Many batsmen were dismissed and many more struck painful blows due to this Robert’s trick.

In the 1983 ICC Cricket World Cup, Robert was also part of the West Indies team which ended up as runners-up. During 1974 John Snow believes that Roberts saw reduced effectiveness after being over bowled by Hampshire and West Indies.

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Robert’s Life After Cricket

Andy Robert contributed to the West Indies cricket team even after his retirement as a player. As an administrator, he oversaw the preparation of pitches and helped prepare the pitches in Antigua on which Brian Lara twice broke the world record for the highest Test scores.

In 2001 and 2005, Robert worked with fast bowlers of Bangladesh and also helped coach India’s seam bowling all-rounder Irfan Pathan in 2006. Then in July 2006, he joined the West Indies cricket board selection panel. In 2008, he was one of 12 former West Indies cricketers who together made up the ‘Stanford Legends’ for promoting the Stanford 20/20.

On 8 February 2014, he was appointed as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Nation (KCN) by the Antiguan Barbudan government.

Domestic and International Team Information

In domestic cricket, From 1970 to 1984, he played for the Leeward Islands and also for Combined Islands from 1970 to 1981. From 1973 to 1978 he played for Hampshire and in 1976 he played for New South Wales. Then from 1981 to 1984, he played for Leicestershire.

In his International Career, he played for the West Indies team from 1974 to 1983. He made his international Test debut on 6 March 1974 against England. His last Test match was on 24 December 1983 against India. He made his ODI debut on 7 June 1975 against Sri Lanka. His last ODI match was on 7 December 1983 against India.

Career Statistics of Andy Roberts

In his lifetime career as a player, he played 47 Test matches, 56 ODI matches, 228 first-class matches, and 195 List A matches. He scored 762 runs in Test matches, 231 runs in ODI matches, 3516 runs in first-class, and 1091 in List A match. His batting average is 14.94 in test matches, 10.04 in ODI matches, 15.69 in first-class, and 14.54 in List A match. His top scorer is 61 in test matches, 37 in ODI matches, 89 in first-class, and 81 in List A match.

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The final words

Andy Roberts is a fearsome fast bowler who is a former successful cricketer. He played in both domestic matches and at the international level. He was also famous for his variations of stock delivery by which trick batsmen. He also worked as an administrator in the cricket department and he helped in the preparation of cricket pitches.