One half of the most feared bowling attack the game has known, the fabled four horsemen of the apocalypse that helped transform the West Indies into the side that dominated cricket for more than a decade, it’s fair to say that Andy Roberts [front] and Colin Croft [third from left] know what they’re talking about when it comes to bowling wheels.
As part of our packed fast bowling special, AOC’s Ed Davis and Chris Knight caught up with the two Windies legends to find out what it takes to have pace like fire. Sadly, there’s only so much even we can cram into a 100-page magazine, so here are a few choice lines that you won’t find in the upcoming issue – which hits the shelves on December 29 – to enjoy…
What’s your assessment of the state of fast bowling in the modern era?
Colin Croft: I would not have gotten along well in today’s game. We had, generally, 15 players and about two managers in our room, now they have a bowling coach, a batting coach, a fielding coach, a psychologist, a masseur, 28 people in a dressing room… what is this? A concert?
Andy Roberts: I look at the fast bowlers around today and all I see are jockeys, not fast bowlers. Look at the West Indies team at the moment, it is tough to bowl fast and stay fit when you have a small stature.
Why do you think the game isn’t producing the fast bowlers who played during your era?
AR: Fast bowling is all about attitude; it’s about your state of mind. To be good at it you have to work – you have to put the time in and realise it is hard. I’m not sure the current generation understands, but you have to bowl, bowl and bowl. Everyone is getting too caught up in biomechanics and whatnot, bowling the right way, or the right way according to a textbook, but you shouldn’t change a guy’s action at all unless he’s no good. Let him be what his body want him to be.
CC: Coaching and the amount of cricket being played are fast bowling’s biggest problems at the moment. Forget the damn coaching book. Be natural, it’s as simple as that, be natural. People tell you about mixed and open-chested actions, but, hold on, if the guy is comfortable and he can bowl quickly and get wickets, that’s all you want. He’s not a frigging dentist, he’s not a doctor, he is a fast bowler – he wants to get people out.
Then there is the amount they play these days. We would only do two Test tours and two one-day tours a year. Now they do three Test tours a year and all the one-day cricket they can find, so players just don’t go home. They buy a dog and they go back after being on tour and the dog will bite them because it doesn’t remember them! It’s become so commercial, too commercial. You can’t ask a guy to work the way international cricket demands at the moment; nine, 10, 11 months a year is ridiculous if you have a family.
Who was the best batsman against fast bowling during your era?
AR: The best batsman I used to bowl to was Viv Richards. I had to bowl at him in first-class cricket and he was incredible. In Test cricket, I wouldn’t say there was one guy who stood out over the others, there was a set of good players and conditions dictated how successful they were. Sunil Gavaskar was very good, as was Ian Chappell, and I guess Greg Chappell as well.
CC: Some of them would take you on. Ian Chappell – a tremendous cricketer with a heart like stone – never backed away, Imran Khan… every team had its own stars. David Gower and Graham Gooch were good for England, and Geoffrey Boycott, of course. Not Ian Botham so much, because he was the captain and we targeted him.
New Zealand had guys like John Wright, Richard Hadlee and Bruce Edgar; those guys would really work you out. Sunil Gavaskar was brilliant for India; he would take you on, he had no fear.
How often did you look to bounce the batsman?
CC: They all got it; they all got the same treatment as far as I was concerned. It didn’t matter what number you came in, you all got the same treatment!
AR: The bouncer is part of the game. If you can’t bowl a decent one you’ve got no business calling yourself a fast bowler, and if you can’t play it you’ve got no business calling yourself a batsman. But some played the short ball better than others.
How does England’s current attack compare to the great attacks of the past?
CC: They’re doing well – reverse swing was not invented by Jimmy Anderson though. For the West Indies the guy who bowled reverse swing best was Malcolm Marshall, but all of us did it.
England are quite good, I’ve got to be honest. In 2000, when the West Indies were here, I said that Anderson, when he stops getting injured, would become their best bowler. And that’s true. If Stuart Broad focuses on his cricket he can be brilliant. Finn, for me, is not a fast bowler but he’s ok, he’s tall, he’s rangy and can get things done. I like Tim Bresnan because he pitches the ball up – he gets the ball to move.
The man who impresses me most for England is Graeme Swann because he’s a tremendous utility cricketer. He bowls well, he fields well, he catches well and he bats well. He can almost guarantee you 30 runs these days and that’s what you want your bowlers to be doing, to be getting 30 or 40 runs. If your last four batsmen give you anything between 50 to 100 runs every time, you are almost always going to win because your bowlers’ confidence goes up and they then bowl well.
For more from Andy Roberts and Colin Croft, plus a host of other speedsters past and present, check out issue 89 of All Out Cricket, in shops December 29, and make sure you check out our other interviews with some of the game’s fast bowling greats and several up and coming pacemen, such as this chat with England’s Stuart Meaker, elsewhere on this site.
