By Phillip Hackett

Kemar Roach must have wondered how long he would have to wait for the opportunity to make an impact at the highest level of international cricket. With two ODIs and a solitary T20 behind him Roach was poised to fully launch his international career.

Overlooked for the home series against England and the tour of England that followed, Roach, his no- ball problem seemingly behind him, was again ignored for the ODI series against India and initially for the home series against Bangladesh. A five wicket haul against the tourists while representing the ‘A’ team on the eve of the first Test was not enough to sway the selectors, despite the absence through injury of Fidel Edwards.

The impasse between the WIPA and the WICB opened the door and Roach wasted no time in displaying his skills and his love for West Indies cricket. Roach celebrated virtually every wicket by kissing the crest on his team shirt. He had cause to do so repeatedly in the first innings of the second Test in St. George’s, Grenada, when his fiery fast bowling produced figures of six for 48, a performance that earned West Indies a slim five run first innings lead.

Roach’s passion and aggression were the obvious features of his effort and this was borne out when he spoke to reporters following the second day’s play. The 21-year-old fast bowler described his achievement as magical and revealed the source of his inspiration.

“I want to do well in front of the crowd and on television. I want to show my talent so I was fired up,” said the youthful pacer who represents the Maple cricket club in his homeland Barbados.

“I think this is very good for my career. I have seen offers from the IPL (Indian Premiere league), but the public wasn’t seeing me. I think they are seeing me now on a world stage and I think I now have a good chance of progressing,” said Roach.

Roach admitted he recognized the Bangladeshi players looked uncomfortable and he sought to capitalize on this.

“They weren’t handling the short bowling too well. We had a meeting with the coach (John Dyson) and the captain (Floyd Reifer) and we tried to get a few more short balls to the body and it worked for us…” Roach said.

Roach, who holds former West Indies fast bowlers, the Reverend Wes Hall, the late Malcolm Marshall and Corey Collymore as his role models, has already set his standards quite high in aiming to be the bowler to reach 100 Test wickets faster than anyone else in the history of the game.