NEW DELHI: West Indies pacer Kemar Roach expressed admiration for England's pace veteran James Anderson, who recently announced his retirement from international cricket.
Roach described Anderson as one of the greatest pacers ever and expressed hope that his team would make Anderson's farewell Test match at Lord's on July 10 memorable by defeating England.
England's pace spearhead, James Anderson, revealed his decision to retire from international cricket after a remarkable 22-year career. Despite being 41 years old, Anderson, renowned for his fitness and pace, announced his departure via Instagram on Saturday, stating that the first Test of the summer against West Indies on July 10 would mark his final appearance for England.
Roach, currently competing in the County Championship for Surrey, acknowledged Anderson's greatness and expressed sadness at his impending departure. He expressed his desire for West Indies to secure their first away series win against England since 1988, highlighting the strength of their pace attack with players like Shamar Joseph and Alzarri Joseph.
Furthermore, Kemar Roach emphasized Anderson's valuable advice and widespread respect within the cricketing community.
"It is a very highly talented and skilful group (West Indies pace group)," Roach said at the Kia Oval on Monday as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
"We have not had the best of times over here in England, so it is more about focusing on us - not what they are going to do for him (England doing a farewell Test for Anderson). He is going to get what he deserves (Anderson). But it is all about us working hard to get what we deserve, which is a series win over here in England."
"He is a great fast bowler, probably one of the greatest. It is sad to see him go, but we all know you cannot play forever. He has done fantastically for England and he deserves whatever he gets."
"First Test match against us... hopefully, we ruin it. He is highly respected. He has always given me great advice as well. He will go down as one of the greatest to ever do it. I wish him all the best after that Test match, and hopefully, he enjoys whatever comes next," he concluded.
Kemar also believes that the WI seam attack consisting of Shamar, him, Alzarri and Jayden Seales is among the best he has played in and they together add a lot of X-Factor with their devastating pace.
"To have three guys like that in the team, a captain to have that to select, for any given day or any given surface [is great]. As a group, we are pretty confident. England is always our biggest series... We want to put up a good fight, put on a good show. We have not won a Test series in England for quite a while so it is good to come with some confidence, and hopefully, we can do it this time," he added.
Roach, who is turning 36 next month and is 15 years into his Test career, said that he is not contemplating retirement as of now. He spent the past two weeks with bowling coach Jade Dernbach working on his "balance at the crease" and discovered his prodigious reverse swing.
"I felt good. It has been a tough couple of weeks for me, trying to work on some things, but it is always good to get rewards for some hard work. As a fast bowler, you always want to see the stumps flying around. I am building with Surrey. [I want to] get myself in good physical shape, the right mental space, and then when it gets to the West Indies tour, I will build on that."
"I have no retirement time in sight. I think I can go as long as I want, but obviously it is all on performances. The older you get, you need to have performance to stay in the team. I have been doing well, but I just want to keep helping the youngsters so they are in a good space, mentally and physically. I will be happy to see those guys going after me and breaking those records if they have to," he concluded.
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