By Neto Baptiste
Legendary West Indies fast bowler Sir Curtly Ambrose believes that despite having gone the unusual route from the West Indies Under-19s into the region’s senior squad where he has remained for the past six years, fast bowler Alzarri Joseph has continued to progress in a positive way.
Sir Curtly, who claimed 405 wickets in 98 Tests and another 225 in 176 ODI matches, said the young Antiguan and Barbudan has defied the odds of being plunged into a level of cricket he probably was not mentally prepared for at the time.
“He was thrust into International cricket from the Under-19s setup and of course, it’s a different level of cricket altogether and he had a bit of success early on, but these things take time. He was learning on the job and, because of his exploits in the Under-19 World Cup, we expected him to just set the world alight in International cricket which would not work but he has progressed quite nicely over the years, still bowling with good pace consistently and he now understands a little bit more about fast bowling,” he said.
Joseph debuted against India at Gros Islet in August 2016 and bounced out Virat Kohli for three for his first wicket. His ODI debut came a few months later against Pakistan in Sharjah.
Sir Curtly believes Joseph’s biggest improvement has been shown in both his patience and his understanding of the game.
“Previously, he was a patient person so I keep telling him he has to be patient but I am seeing improvement in that aspect of his game. Overall, he has progressed nicely and I am looking forward to him doing better and to lead the West Indies attack soon,” the former player said.
Joseph finished as West Indies’ highest wicket-taker in the 2016 Under-19 World Cup with 13 wickets from six games at an economy of 3.31. In 2019, he was signed by Mumbai Indians as an injury replacement for Adam Milne, and in his first game, against Sunrisers Hyderabad, he returned figures of six for 12, the best figures by a bowler in the IPL.
The Leeward Islands and All Saints Pythons player was recently named in a 15-member squad for the ICC T20 World Cup, which is being played in Australia from October 16th until November 13th.