Yesterday’s victory in Australia had been 27 years in the making; the last time the West Indies won a test match before then was in February of 1997.
With Australia heading into the fourth day on 60/2 with the great Steve Smith at the crease looking close to his best, many have relegated the West Indies to another loss.
However, Shamar Joseph, the hero of yesterday’s great heist, had other ideas, bowling the West Indies to an eight-run victory with sublime figures of 7/68.
While the world is abuzz with images and videos of Joseph across the various social media platforms, former captain of the Guyana national team and serial winner in his own right, Leon Johnson, has hailed Joseph’s performance as phenomenal and as life-giving to West Indies cricket.
In an invited comment to Stabroek Sports, former West Indies player and U19 Captain Johnson said, “His performance in the series was nothing short of phenomenal. He went toe to toe with the number 1 test team, no pun intended, and got just rewards for bowling aggressively.
To bowl your team to victory with a broken toe against all odds is truly remarkable and has breathed new life into West Indies cricket.”
Looking back at when Joseph seemed to appear out of nowhere to play first-class cricket, Johnson noted, “His story has been well documented. Two years ago, when he just randomly showed up at a national team practice session, I had never seen him before, and when he started bowling, I couldn’t understand why he hadn’t played any cricket for Berbice before.”.
“His eagerness to learn along with his abundance of talent are the main reasons for his swift rise in the game, in my opinion. With the right management, we will see a world-beater in Shamar,” Johnson declared.
Meanwhile, Cricket West Indies President Dr. Kishore Shallow was also keen to point out, “The stellar performance of debutant Shamar Joseph is a shining example of the talent and potential within our ranks. His remarkable contribution underscores the depth of talent in West Indies cricket and bodes well for the future of our sport.”
For his efforts, which included a five-wicket haul on debut along with the wicket of Steve Smith off his very first delivery in test cricket, Joseph received the man of the series award to crown a memorable debut series and tour of Australia. The man from Baracara has etched his name in the annals of cricket history and certainly looks like he has more to produce.
