This newspaper was in tacit agreement with the omission of 37-year-old Mr Kemar Roach from the West Indies Test squad for a home series against Australia in mid-year.

Our thinking then was that, despite his tremendous service to West Indies cricket dating back 16 years, it was time to transition to younger fast-bowling talent.

But Mr Roach, among the greats of West Indies cricket, has never been one to back from a challenge or fold and walk away.

He was raring to go when chosen for the tour of New Zealand following injuries to fast bowlers Messrs Alzarri and Shamar Joseph (not related).

Not only did he perform as a bowler, taking seven wickets in the just-concluded drawn Test match in Christchurch, Mr Roach’s heroic, back-to-the-wall, 233-ball 58 not out proved pivotal after all seemed lost at 277 for six on the final morning.

His unbeaten seventh-wicket partnership of 180 with double centurion Mr Justin Greaves — later named Man of the Match — will be remembered among the epics of West Indies cricket. Notwithstanding that the New Zealand bowling was depleted by injury.

Of course, Mr Roach has often proven himself as a committed lower-order batsman. We won’t forget August 2021 at Sabina Park in Kingston when his unbeaten 30 guided West Indies to a tense one-wicket triumph over Pakistan. And August 2012 — also at Sabina Park — when as nightwatchman he stroked 41 in a 70-run partnership with Mr Shivnarine Chanderpaul to ensure a five-wicket win over New Zealand.

Mr Roach’s 291 wickets in 86 Tests makes him easily the most-successful West Indies bowler since the exit of the great pace merchants Messrs Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose.

A small man in the context of fast bowling at well under six-foot tall, he has had his fair share of setbacks. He was very fast when he first made his Test match début in 2009 for a badly depleted West Indies — following withdrawals by senior players — against Bangladesh. Serious injuries in 2013/14 threatened his career. On his return to cricket it was quickly recognised that he had lost significant pace. It was then that the strength of Mr Roach’s personality came to the fore. Over the next few years he transformed himself from tear-away fast to being among the globe’s more highly skilled exponents of seam bowling.

To his credit, he has kept on learning. Crucially, too, his commitment and resolve have set the tone for those around him, such as fellow Barbadian Mr Greaves, a seam bowling all-rounder who has shown astonishing improvement as a batsman in recent years.

We are inclined to suspect that Mr Roach’s resolve may also have had a positive impact on Mr Shai Hope, another Barbadian, whose Test match batting is on the rebound, following an alarmingly prolonged slump, triggering his omission from the Test side in 2021.

Mr Hope’s fabulous century (140) — his second in as many Tests — laid an essential platform for the historic Greaves/Roach partnership.

The highest praise is due to Messrs Hope, Greaves, and Roach for their extraordinary efforts in ensuring West Indies gained their first points in the current World Test Championship cycle.

In the singular case of Mr Roach, we believe there is compelling basis for him to take on a guiding role for the regional team after his glorious career draws to a close.