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There is a month before the West Indies' next Test match, against Bangladesh in Dhaka, and it's time in which Andy Roberts should be summoned to work with the two new fast bowlers: Jermaine Lawson and Darren Powell.

The recommendation has come from Michael Holding, who shared the new ball with Roberts in the glory days of West Indies cricket two decades ago.

"These guys have time and a lot of Test matches in front of them," Holding, now a respected television analyst who is covering the current West Indies tour, said by telephone from Calcutta.

"They need expert advice right now," he said. "They should be sent to Andy Roberts, or Andy sent wherever they are, for him to work on specific things for a week or two.

"I'm sure if he was asked by the [West Indies Cricket] Board, he'd be happy to do it," he added.

Roberts, who took 202 wickets in 47 Tests between 1974 and 1983, was West Indies team coach between 1995 and 1996 and has conducted fast bowling courses for the WICB.

Lawson, 20, and Powell, 24, earned praise from all observers on what was their first full tour.

Lawson played in the second and third Tests, Powell in the third but they were omitted from the team for the current One-Day series and have returned to Jamaica prior to the two Tests in Bangladesh, at Dhaka, December 8-12, and Chittagong, December 16-20.

Holding said he had advised Powell to "work a little harder" on finding the "medium length, between full and short" needed especially on flat pitches.

"He needs to be finding that length on a regular basis, getting batsmen to be indecisive about their strokeplay," he explained. "That will help get them out."

He felt Lawson did not seem "all that comfortable" running up a slight gradient from the pavilion end in the third Test. But, he said, that could be sorted out with time.

Holding was especially sold on Lawson and noted that Roberts had been talking about him for some time and pressing for his inclusion in the team.

"Powell is a young man who's not afraid to run in and bowl fast on flat pitches and he showed the control necessary in the [Calcutta] Test," he said.

Holding was puzzled that captain Carl Hooper preferred the slower Cameron Cuffy with the new ball to either Lawson or Powell.

"We need pace," he said. "It's something we've been talking about in the West Indies for years. Now we've got two young men with a bit of pace, we've got to let them loose."

© Barbados Nation