Roberts wants to help Lawson

BRIDGETOWN: AS FAR as Andy Roberts is concerned, six weeks was always too short a time for Jermaine Lawson to correct his flawed bowling action.

“This is something that would take three months, at least, maybe even six,” Roberts, who took 202 Test wickets as the pioneer of the fearsome West Indies fast attacks in the late 1970s and early 1980s, said on Monday. “Your action is part of a bowler’s being,” he explained. “It’s something you grow up with, something you get accustomed to, something you do over and over again. It becomes as natural as tying your shoelaces. “You don’t change it that quickly or easily,” he said. “It takes time and plenty of work and discipline.” He said as much when he was initially contacted by then West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president, Rev Wes Hall, and subsequently by WICB chief cricket development officer, Dr Michael Seepersaud, to aid in Lawson’s renovation. As it turned out, Roberts was never engaged. It was first mooted that Lawson would come to Antigua, Roberts’ home, for the sessions but it was ultimately decided that the 21-year-old Jamaican fast bowler remain in Kingston and work under the guidance of Philip Service and Andrew Coley, two WICB accredited WICB coaches.

Roberts said Lawson would have to “start from the beginning.” “I would have him first delivering from a standing position so that he would get accustomed to using his body to get the force. Part of his problem was that he was using his arm almost exclusively,” he said. He said he had ordered heavier balls – nine and a half  to ten ounces instead of the regulation five and a half – that would help in developing more body in the action. “I’m prepared to work with him any time,” he said. “I’m always prepared to do anything I can to help West Indies cricket.” Roberts said he felt that one of the reasons why he was not contracted to work with Lawson over an extended period was that he had not passed through the WICB coaching programme. He said he was ready to go to Jamaica for a spell but, at one point, was told that no hotel rooms could be found as it was during the World Netball Championships. On another occasion, he could not take time off from his business.