By Neto Baptiste
Legendary West Indies fast bowler and one of four knighted cricketers here, Sir Andy Roberts, has encouraged young and promising fast bowler Jayden Seales to keep working at his game and to surround himself with people who will honestly critique his performances.
Speaking on the Good Morning Jojo Sports Show, Sir Andy said that although Seales has shown tremendous promise, there is still some work to be done if he is to reach his true potential.
“I think he is a work in progress, I think he has a lot to do and honestly, I don’t believe they are helping him because just look at his right foot coming through, it’s coming through slowly, and in cricketing terms and fast bowling terms in the past, they would say he has a dead ass. I would tell him to continue doing what he is doing, work hard and try and surround himself not with all ‘yes’ people, but try and surround himself with people who are going to be critical of him,” he said.
On the flipside of Seales’ success however, his fellow fast bowler and Antiguan, Alzarri Joseph, continues to struggle with the ball, going wicket-less for 75 runs in 18 overs during Pakistan’s first innings of the ongoing Test.
Sir Andy suggests that Joseph could seek advice on how he could improve his art, adding that he needs to be a bit more patient.
“Do the things that he knows will help him and try and seek other advice, and don’t get too impatient if you’re not getting wickets. A lot of us believe that it is when you get wickets you bowl well, no. If you persist and you continue to work hard, then you will find you reap the rewards later on,” the former player said.
Sir Andy, who formed part of the “quartet” of West Indian fast bowlers from the mid-seventies to the early eighties with the others being Michael Holding, Joel Garner and Colin Croft, commended the bowlers for the way they have performed over the last two matches, but warns that they must learn how to quickly adapt to changing conditions.
Seales bagged eight wickets for 125 runs in 31.4 overs in the team’s first Test against Pakistan to be named Man of the Match. The Trinidad and Tobago national, bowling against Pakistan in their first innings of the second Test, grabbed three wickets for 31 runs in 15 overs.
“We bowled very well in the first Test. We didn’t bat as well as I think we should, but the pitch was new, and the ball was moving all the time, so it was helpful, and one thing I would like our fast bowlers to get away from is the dependency on pitches where the ball moves sideways because you are not going to be getting it on a regular basis,” he said.
“I thought this current Test match, I believe we were waiting for things to happen because it happened in the first Test where the ball moved a lot more than it did in this Test match,” he added.