People more focused on line and length rather than real fast bowling: Roberts

St John’s (Antigua), Jan 30: Former West Indies pace bowling great Andy Roberts believes the current generation of fast bowlers are more focused on their line and lengths instead of bowling fast. In his playing days, Roberts was an integral part of the iconic pace quartet from the West Indies’ in both Tests and ODIs.
“To me, it is not as encouraging as it was 15-20 years ago. Even after the greats have finished, we still had some youngsters, who were coming through. The seamers, I don’t know if it is the advent of T20 cricket that is not allowing bowlers to try and bowl as fast as they can. People are more focused on line and length these days instead of real fast bowling,” said Roberts to former Ireland captain Niall O’ Brien on the sidelines of the Men’s U19 World Cup quarter-final clash between India and Bangladesh.
Roberts, a member of the West Indies’ World Cup winning team in 1975 and 1979, is still excited by the sight of anyone bowling fast. “Anybody, who runs and bowls fast is what I like and who I like because you can transform from a good fast bowler to a good swing bowler or a good medium pace bowler. But you can’t go from being a medium pacer to a fast bowler. It takes a lot out of you to do that.” (IANS)