Legendary West Indies fast bowler Courtney Walsh has hailed Kemar Roach’s latest milestone as “a tremendous achievement” while claiming the pacer is capable of taking 300 Test wickets after the latter made a rare record for his country in the Day 2 of the ongoing third and final Test against England.
On the second day morning session of the ongoing series decider Test at Manchester, the 32-year-old Roach completed his 200 Test wickets and became the first Caribbean bowler since 1994 to reach this milestone since the legendary Curtly Ambrose 26 years ago to achieve this feat.
After going wicketless for nearly 11 months of Test cricket, the Caribbean pacer managed to get back to the business in the second Test taking 4 wickets and then ended the innings with figures of 4/72 during the England’s first innings in the ongoing final Test at Manchester – which is the pacer’s 59th Test.
Speaking on the Sky Sports' Cricket Debate, Walsh said: “It is a tremendous achievement for him to get there. It shows hard work and dedication pays off. I think he is fit enough to get to 250 or even 300.”
He further added, “Just below him is the legendary Wes Hall - he was the daddy, the leader of the pack. When I started they called him 'The Chief' because he was chief wicket-taker. So it is a tremendous list for Roach to be on and he must be feeling chuffed.”
Meanwhile, Roach told BBC: “I guess I had that landmark on my mind a little bit too much, I had a few restless nights. It's good to get past that barrier now and see how many more I can get. 300 would be great. I'll work hard to get there and we'll see how many I can go past 300.”
Noteworthy, Roach is just one wicket away from equalling the West Indies great Andy Roberts' record of 202 wickets. If the pacer managed to 300 scalps, he would have gone past the legends like Gary Sobers (235), Michael Holding (249), and Joel Garner (259) in the Tests.
(With BBC/ Sky Sports Inputs)
