Roach: No friendships with Jofra
JofRa aRchER has been warned that there will be ‘no friendship’ shown towards him when he comes up against the West Indies players he left behind to make his career with England.
archer, integral to England’s dramatic World cup triumph last year immediately after qualifying for the land of his father, will be facing West Indies for the first time in test cricket when the teams meet at the ageas Bowl on July 8.
and his fellow Barbadian Kemar Roach yesterday hinted at a less than warm reunion with archer when West Indies defend the Wisden trophy they won by defeating
England in the caribbean at the start of last year. ‘Jofra made his decision and he’s done a fantastic job for England so far but there will be no friendships during this series,’ said the leader of West Indies attack. ‘It’s all about winning and playing hard cricket. We will devise a plan for our batsmen to counter him and I’m looking forward to that battle. I saw him as a youngster playing cricket back home in Barbados and always thought that he was talented. ‘ he has come over here and shown what he can do and I want to wish him all the best in his career. But you will definitely see if we have any words for him on the field when that comes around.’
Roach, who has taken 42 of his 193 test wickets against England, will spearhead a formidable attack in three tests behind closed doors and promised more of the fierce pace bowling that inspired last year’s 2-1 series win.
‘It’s different conditions to the caribbean and the ball will do a bit more here but I don’t think our mode of attack will change much,’ said Roach, speaking via Zoom at West Indies biosecure training base at Emirates old trafford.
‘We saw what happened in the caribbean and that’s pretty fresh in our minds and, if we can get stuck into the batsmen, we will have a great chance of defeating England.
‘We have always had a history of fast bowling and we just needed the pitches to bowl on — which our curators have given us. our bowlers have done a tremendous job over the last couple of years and, if we work hard, there are some great things ahead of us.’
Roach, 31, sparked West Indies’ superiority over England in 2019 when he took five for 17 in the first test at Kensington oval as England were blasted out for 77.
It was a blow they never recovered from. ‘that’s definitely one of the highlights of my career,’ said Roach. ‘It was at home in front of friends and family. It was one of my best performances, especially as we went on to win the series.
‘We want to execute that again and I don’t see why not. I’m proud of what we did then but we’ve moved on. It’s all about taking the Wisden trophy back to the caribbean.’ England v West Indies Test series: First Test, 8-12 July (Southampton); second Test, 16-20 July (Old Trafford); third Test, 24-28 July (Old Trafford).