West Indies head coach Daren Sammy has revealed that fast bowler Alzarri Joseph declined selection for the home Test series against Pakistan, which begins in Tarouba on Saturday.
Cricket West Indies had earlier announced that Joseph was unavailable for the two-match series due to personal reasons. However, speaking ahead of the opening Test, Sammy clarified that the pacer had turned down the opportunity to be part of the squad.
“Yeah, it is a big loss. Mr Joseph has declined selection. That’s the reality of the situation,” Sammy said at a press interaction ahead of the series opener.
“He was selected. I mean, he’s now coming back from injury. And for reasons since, he has declined the selection. That is a decision that is way over my head. I leave that with the directors to come up with whatever solutions where contracted players get to decline selection,” said the coach.
Joseph has represented the West Indies in 42 Tests, taking 130 wickets, and has been a regular across all three formats for the regional side.
Despite missing one of his frontline fast bowlers, Sammy backed the current attack to deliver against Pakistan.
The West Indies pace unit includes Shamar Joseph, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales, and all-rounders Justin Greaves and Keemo Paul, while the spin department features Jomel Warrican, debutant Joshua Bishop, and captain Roston Chase.
“What I could tell you (is that) we have a bowling line-up that we’ve seen that could take 20 wickets. That’s the first start to winning Test matches,” Sammy said when asked if West Indies had the firepower to take on Pakistan.
“We saw it in New Zealand. We saw it in the Australia series. We matched Australia with the ball. We matched New Zealand with the ball as well. And the confidence and the work that the batters have put in, you could see it bearing fruit in the Test series against Sri Lanka.
“You know, much more consistency is coming through. So once we match these two batsmen scoring runs, we know we have the bowling line-up to take 20 wickets and help us win Test matches,” Sammy said.
