(Cricket Australia) Having terrorised Australia’s batters as a net bowler on the other side of the world six years ago, speedster Alzarri Joseph has been backed to do the same in the middle of Perth Stadium in his first Test campaign down under.
Described as the “enforcer” of the West Indies bowling attack, Joseph has come a long way since his introduction to the Australians in St Kitts in 2016 when Justin Langer compared him to Usain Bolt and Andre Russell after he bowled for over an hour at one of their training sessions on the small Caribbean island.
“He’s a beautiful athlete and he bowled fast,” Langer, the stand-in coach for that 2016 tri-series in the Caribbean, said of the young Antiguan at the time. “He bowled fast and beautiful yorkers. And what an athlete.”
Little did Langer, who had jokingly asked Joseph between deliveries if he wanted to play for the Perth Scorchers side he was in charge of at the time, that cricket would indeed one day bring the paceman to the Western Australian capital.
The fact Joseph has done so having helped bowled the Windies to home series wins over England and Bangladesh this year, snaring 22 wickets at 25.81 in five matches, should make him the bowler Australia spend the most time worrying about ahead of the NRMA Insurance series beginning Wednesday.
The fast, bouncy Perth pitch will offer him far more assistance than the mostly slow surfaces tracks he has had to contend with in the Caribbean.
David Warner vividly recalls facing the then 19-year-old who had recently helped the Windies win the Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh in 2016.
Warner then got a further taste of his prowess when he became one of the six wickets Joseph took in his Indian Premier League debut in 2019.
“We saw him just bowling thunderbolts. On those wickets, they were quite glassy and a bit ridgey, it was a bit daunting,” Warner said of his 2016 encounter with Joseph.
“We just didn’t know where he’d come from. He was young back then. It’s good to see him evolve from then.
“He’s a fantastic bowler, he’s got a good record. I faced him in the IPL when he first came in and took six-for against us.
“He’s an exciting young talent. That’s what West Indies cricket needs, they need guys coming in and bowling at high speeds. Hopefully the wickets get back to what they were in the ‘80s and ‘90s in the Caribbean.”
Warner will get a taste of how much Joseph has improved in the years since when the left-handed opener sizes up the Windies bowlers this week.
Veteran Kemar Roach, no stranger to ruffling Australian feathers himself having famously touched up Ricky Ponting in his first tour here, may be the Windies’ attack leader but Joseph’s ability to send down repeated spells at pace makes him his side’s greatest threat with the ball.
Jason Holder was Joseph’s first Test captain and watched him dismiss Virat Kohli with just his 15th delivery on debut in St Kitts, only two months after impressing the Aussies in the nets.
“He burst onto the scene when he played for the West Indies youth team, and that was a triumphant team in Bangladesh, so that’s where he really made his name,” Holder said on Monday.
“Then he quickly progressed into international cricket.
“I was actually quite shocked last week when he said he’s 26 and we celebrated his 26th birthday on tour.
“It’s just amazing how the time has flown by. It’s just so good to see him still here fit and healthy, and actually developing quite nicely.”
As Holder remembers, Joseph was initially a quiet presence in the change-room, but his gradual emergence as a first-choice bowler in all three formats has seen him grow in confidence.
A baby-faced Joseph bowls against India on Test debut in 2016 // Getty
Now, the Windies want him to be the man who can put the Aussies on their toes in their own backyard.
“He’s got pace, he’s very aggressive at times too,” said Holder. “He’s probably going to be the guy we ask to be the enforcer and be a little bit more aggressive.
“He’s developed a lot. Alzarri was very introverted (at first), and didn’t say much in the dressing room, but now he’s a lot more comfortable around his peers and the guys have made him feel really welcome as well too.
“He’s probably one of the more seasoned campaigners around when it comes to all-format cricket for West Indies over the last couple of years and he’s developed nicely in my opinion.
“I just think, looking forward to this series, it will be a really good series for him, an away-from-home series in these tough conditions against good opposition.
“It’s really good to see young players come on and do well this type of series.”
Men’s NRMA Insurance Test Series v West Indies
Nov 30 – Dec 4: First Test, Perth Stadium, 1:20pm AEDT
Dec 8-12: Second Test, Adelaide Oval, 3pm AEDT (day-night)
Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner
West Indies squad: Kraigg Brathwaite (c), Jermaine Blackwood, Nkrumah Bonner, Shamarh Brooks, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Roston Chase, Joshua Da Silva, Jason Holder, Alzarri Joseph, Kyle Mayers, Anderson Phillip, Raymon Reifer, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales, Devon Thomas