Roger Harper

Roger Harper

Personal information
Full name	Roger Andrew Harper
Born	17 March 1963 Georgetown, Guyana
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Batting style	Right-handed
Bowling style	Right-arm off break
Relations	Mark Harper (brother)
International information
National side	West Indies
Test debut	10 December 1983 v India
Last Test	8 December 1993 v Sri Lanka
ODI debut	13 October 1983 v India
Last ODI	13 April 1996 v Sri Lanka
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1979–1990	Demerara
1979–1997	Guyana
1985–1987	Northamptonshire
1989–1996	Bacup CC
Career statistics
Competition Tests ODIs FC LA Matches 25 105 200 214 Runs scored 535 855 7,480 2,650 Batting average 18.44 16.13 34.00 21.90 100s/50s 0/3 0/0 10/36 0/6 Top score 74 45* 234 69* Balls bowled 3,615 5,175 37,826 10,403 Wickets 46 100 567 210 Bowling average 28.06 34.31 25.97 30.79 5 wickets in innings 1 0 28 1 10 wickets in match 0 0 3 0 Best bowling 6/57 4/40 6/24 5/37 Catches/stumpings 36/– 55/– 262/– 120/–
Source: Cricket Archive, 18 October 2010

Roger Andrew Harper (b. 17 March 1963, Georgetown, Demerara, Guyana) is a former West Indies cricketer turned coach, who played both Test and ODI cricket for the West Indies. His international career lasted 13 years, from 1983 to 1996, and he was later described as a "fabulous" fielder.^[1]

His Test bowling average of 28.06 is superior to that of Lance Gibbs, giving him the leading average among all West Indian spinners with at least 25 Test wickets. One of his most notable performances was against South Africa in the Quarter Finals of the 1996 Cricket World Cup when he took 4/47 to allow the West Indies to seize control of the match.

Harper was an all-rounder who batted right-handed and bowled off breaks with his right arm; as a player, he recorded 535 runs and 46 wickets in his 25 Tests, and he played 200 first class matches. After his playing career, he became coach, taking over the West Indies team between 2000 and 2003, and then as team manager of the West Indies youth team in 2005. However, he was approached by the Cricket Kenya in late December 2005 with an offer of taking over the Kenyan national team after interim coach Mudassar Nazar, and the appointment was made official in January 2006. Harper said it "was great to be back" coaching players "at a relatively high level"^[2]

Notes and references

1. Player profile: Roger Harper from ESPNcricinfo
2. Harper Confirmed as Kenya Coach from CaribbeanCricket.com, published 10 January 2006