By Neto Baptiste
West Indies fast bowler Alzarri Joseph, although happy to have set a new bowling record by becoming the top wicket-taker in a single T20 World Cup tournament with 13 scalps in this year’s edition, says he is not placing too much emphasis on the achievement.
“Those things don’t really mean much to me because it’s a team sport and not an individual sport, but for me it’s about winning trophies and contributing to my team winning trophies, so personal accolades don’t necessarily have much of an impact on me,” he said.
The Antiguan’s 13 wickets in this year’s tournament, is the most taken by a West Indian bowler in any single edition of the competition’s history. Andre Russell had 11 wickets, also in this year’s competition with Samuel Badree picking up 11 in the 2014 edition and Dwayne Bravo claiming 10 in the 2009 edition.
West Indies’ run in the tournament ended on Sunday when they were beaten by South Africa in their final Super 8 clash by three wickets via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.
Joseph said the team felt the love and support of the home crowd.
“I’d like to really say thanks to everyone who came out and supported us here in Antigua. The reception we got was really good and, for me, I think that’s the best atmosphere we’ve played in for my entire career so far. So I want to thank everyone who came out and supported us and who supported me,” he said.
“When we got to Trinidad we got a really good reception, really good crowd and really good support and in Barbados it was the same thing and I think that with all the advertising that has been done and the kind of cricket we have been playing, coming home, we would have had a good support as well,” the player added.
The Leeward Islands player, who has picked up 48 wickets in 29 T20 Internationals, revealed that he keeps a “very small circle” that has helped him to remain grounded.
“My father [Alva Joseph] is a very passionate guy about cricket so I try my best to not go to him. So whenever I need advice I would go to Winston [Winston Benjamin] because he has coached me for some time and he would be able to differentiate coach and player relationship from the father-figure and son relationship,” Joseph said.
Joseph, who plays locally for the All Saints cricket team, has claimed 92 wickets in 32 Tests and another 111 in 68 One Day International (ODI) matches. He also has 206 wickets in 66 First Class encounters.
