Wisden Trophy, 200 wickets on Roach’s radar

West Indies fast bowler Kemar Roach says he wants to get his hands on the Wisden Trophy again and will be going all out to defeat England in the upcoming three-Test Series. He is the most experienced member of the attack and has so far taken 193 wickets in 56 matches – ninth on the all-time list for West Indies in Tests.

Roach was the Man-of-the-Series with 18 wickets in three matches in last year’s sensation win on home turf and is “ready to go again” when the first Test bowls off on July 8.

“The 2019 series was great. We played really well especially that match in Barbados … that was one of the highlights especially in front of many of my fans and family. I rate that as Number 1 in my career when it comes to (performances in a) series. We played great cricket but we have moved on … we were high on then but we’ve moved on to this series which is ahead of us,” Roach said on Sunday.

He took 5-17 in the first innings as West Indies bowled out England for just 77 and went on to win the match by 381 runs. He was speaking to journalists from around the world via Zoom link and also noted that while the personal goal is to reach 200 Test wickets, the overall aim is winning for West Indies.

The West Indies squad will live, train and play in a “bio-secure” environment during the seven weeks of the tour, as part of the comprehensive medical and operations plans to ensure player and staff safety. The bio-secure protocols will restrict movement in and out of the venues, so the selection panel has also named a list of reserve players who will travel to train and help prepare the Test squad and ensure replacements are available in case of any injury.

“We haven’t played for a while. Our last Test match was December last year against Afghanistan in India. We have been working very hard and we have games coming up to get our bodies tuned. I’m looking forward to it. The body is feeling quite well.

The 200-mark is on my mind – it would be an honour to get into the 200 bracket on this tour. My focus is getting to the mark and maybe push on to over 250 and maybe 300. But the goal is to beat England. We want to win again and take back home the trophy.”

West Indies will have two inter-squad warm-up matches in Manchester before they travel to Southampton. All 25 players on tour will participate.

The three-day match will be played from Tuesday, June 23 to Thursday, 25

The four-day match from Monday, June 29 to Thursday, July 2.

Wisden Trophy Test Schedule:

1st Test: July 8-12: Ageas Bowl, Southampton

2nd Test: July 16-20: Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester

3rd Test: July 24-28: Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester