Andy Roberts is yet another one of the great West Indies fast bowlers of the golden era of West Indies cricket. This fast bowler was known to scare the batters in the opposition. He has played 47 Test Matches for West Indies. He has taken 202 Wickets at an average of 25.61. He has taken 11 Five Wicket Hauls and 2 times he has taken 10 wickets in a Test Match. Andy Roberts has also played in 56 ODIs for West Indies and he has taken 87 Wickets at an average of 20.36. He has taken 1 Five Wicket Haul in ODI Cricket. He has got a total of 289 international wickets.
Let’s look at the Top 5 Best Bowling Performances of Andy Roberts in Test Cricket
1) 7/64 and 5/57 vs India (1975)
Although West Indies lost this Test Match, this is one of the absolute best bowling performances in the career of Andy Roberts. He was at his best in both innings of the Test Match. He took 7 wickets for 64 runs in the first innings. He bowled 20.5 overs and at 3.07 runs per over he took 7 wickets. He then followed it in the second batting innings of India. He took 5 wickets for 57 runs in 21.4 overs at 2.63 runs per over. He gave the West Indies all the chance to win this match. He took 12 wickets for 121 runs in this Test match. Andy Roberts had arrived in international cricket with this spell of fast bowling.
2) 7/54 vs Australia (1975)
The year 1975 was a very good year for Andy Roberts. This was the second 7 wicket haul in the year. This was against Australia. This was in the second batting innings of Australia when the match was in the balance. He bowled 14 overs for 54 runs at 3.86 runs per over. He got the wickets of Alan Turner, Ian Chappell, Greg Chappell, Rod Marsh and others. Australia were all out for 169 in this innings. West Indies won this match by an innings and 87 Runs.
3) 6/37 vs England (1976)
Andy Roberts had performed exceptionally well against the 3 best test teams in the world. This was his 6 Wicket Haul against England in 1976. This was in the fourth innings of the test match and Andy Roberts absolutely decimated England. England needed 552 runs to win in the fourth Innings and Andy Roberts took 6 wickets for just 37 runs. He bowled 20.5 overs and he only gave away 1.78 runs per over. He also took 3 wickets in the first batting innings of England therefore he took a total of 8 wickets in this match.
4) 5/60 and 5/63 vs England (1976)
It is hard to get a bowler’s name in the Lord’s Honors Board once in a test match but Andy Roberts did it twice in one match. This was in 1976 against England. He was the best fast bowler in the match which was a draw. In the first innings, he took 5 wickets for 60 runs in 23 overs. He gave away 2.61 runs per over. England were all out for 250 in the first innings. Then in the second batting innings for England he once again was the best bowler. He bowled a mammoth spell of 29.4 overs and he gave away 2.11 runs per over. He took 10 wickets in the match giving away 123 runs.
5) 4/61 and 5/39 vs India (1983)
Even at the later stages of his career, Andy Roberts was eager to show the world that he still had it. He loved bowling against India. In this match he took 4 wickets in the first innings. He bowled 22 overs in this innings. He gave away 2.77 runs per over. In the second batting innings for India, Andy Roberts bettered his performance as he took a 5 Wicket Haul. He bowled 24.3 overs in this innings and he gave away only 39 runs at 1.59 runs per over. This great bowling performance helped West Indies to win the match by 4 wickets.
