Legendary West Indies pacer Courtney Walsh feels if Kemar Roach can manage his workload properly, he can easily get to 300 Test wickets.
Roach will spearhead West Indies’ bowling unit when they begin the three-Test series against England at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton from Wednesday.
“Workload management is something that they can look at. I don’t think he has played a lot of shorter versions of the game. But it’s up to him as an individual as well to set the standards, set the goals he wants to achieve,” Walsh told ESPNcricinfo.
“He will get 300 quite easily once the workload management is good and he is playing consistent cricket. What you don’t want to happen to him is that every time he comes back he starts all over again.”
Walsh, 57, is also impressed by Roach’s work ethic and patience.
“… his patience shows he will stick around, and he knows what to do and how to go about achieving that. To me that is what has got him to be as consistent as he is now. His work ethic has gone up as well and he’s doing all he can do to be one of the greats.
“He’s a genuine great. His achievement shows that. What I like about him is his mannerism: he’s always cool and collected and he’s prepared to work.”
Walsh also hoped Roach could get to 200 wickets in the opening Test of the three-match series. The 32-year old currently has 193 wickets to his name from 56 Tests.
“Hopefully, if he can get it out of the way in the first Test match, it’ll be perfect as he could then relax and enjoy the rest of the series,” said Walsh, who took 519 wickets in 132 Tests.
“He has to have someone like I had Curtly (Ambrose). He needs to have someone in this team who can probably give him a smile or something different to take your mind away from it. And that in itself will help him to relax,” Walsh said.