Former fast bowlers say Joseph needs time

Young Antiguan fast bowler, Alzarri Joseph, will need time to readjust and become a force at the international level once more.
This is the belief of former West Indies fast bowler, Kenneth Benjamin, who said it may not be as easy as many may think, to immediately rebound from injury and regain the form you enjoyed before undergoing corrective training and rehabilitation.
“I was looking for his form in terms of the way he was landing and so on. I think the coaches and the trainers need to continue to let Alzarri know that right now we are not looking at your performances. It can’t be, this guy is coming back from a stress fracture and there were some adjustments made in the way he landed and so forth, and some strengthening programmes so this is like he is just starting over,” he said.
Joseph recently completed rehabilitation work with a team appointed by Cricket West Indies (CWI) as he recuperated from a stress fracture.
The Antiguan’s bowling action had to be somewhat altered during the process and Benjamin has urged his coaches and others to exercise patience as Joseph goes through what could be a long and tedious adjustment period.
“It is very important that the coaches and the trainers let him understand that we are not judging you on the stats. It can’t be that because you have to make sure that what he is doing is what you want him to do in terms of his footing and in terms of his form and so on and he [Alzarri] has to have that in the back of his mind that I want to do this. It’s going to take some time for him to be fully confident doing that and focusing on where he lands the ball and so forth, but at the moment, I think Alzarri is just focusing on getting the mechanics right and I think that is what he has to do,” the former player said.
Joseph proved expensive with the ball during the Windies’ last two One Day Internationals (ODI) against Bangladesh in Guyana.
Joseph bowled six overs for 55 runs in Wednesday’s three-wicket victory while he bowled 10 overs for 57 runs in the first ODI in which the home team was beaten by 48 runs.
The third and final ODI is slated for Saturday in St. Kitts.