In a land where fast bowling talent has been dwindling alarming over the last decade, Kemar Roach is perhaps the brightest hope. At well under six feet, he doesn't have the height of some of the earlier West Indian greats, but he has extreme pace, consistently touching the late 140s (kph), and can skid on to batsmen quicker than they realise.

Roach burst into international cricket with 13 wickets in his first two Tests, against Bangladesh, but made his name on the tour to Australia in 2009-10. Consistently bowling at around 150kph, he hurried most of the Australian batsmen and made the headlines in the Perth Test, forcing Ricky Ponting to retire hurt after hitting him on the elbow with a pacy 146kph delivery. In the 2010 IPL auction, he was bought by Deccan Chargers for a healthy sum of $720,000, but it's in the longer format that he holds the greatest promise, a fact that was confirmed by his ten-wicket haul in two Tests in Sri Lanka in 2010-11.
Cricinfo Staff