David Warner has revealed his first encounter with West Indies pace spearhead Alzarri Joseph came in a fiery net session six years ago when he was a fresh faced 20-year-old.
On Wednesday Joseph will lead the West Indies’ pace attack in the first Test of the Australian summer in Perth, but the now 26-year-old playing in his 23rd Test came from nowhere to catch Warner’s attention in a net session over half a decade prior.
“We faced him in the nets going back about five or six years ago in St Kitts, and he was bowling thunderbolts, and we had no idea why this young kid wasn’t part of any of the pathway programs,” Warner told foxsports.com.au.
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“We just didn’t know where he had come from.
“It’s good to see him evolve from then. Obviously he’s a fantastic bowler. He’s got a good record.
“He’s an exciting young talent, and that’s what West Indies cricket needs as well.”
Back in 2016 former Australian coach Justin Langer compared a young Joseph to Usain Bolt and Andre Russell after the hour long practice hit in the Carribean.
“He’s a beautiful athlete and he bowled fast,” Langer, who was stand-in coach of Australia said at the time.
“He bowled fast and beautiful yorkers. And what an athlete.”
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Langer apparently joked with Joseph if he would like to play for the Scorchers, who he was coaching at the time in the BBL.
Fast-forward to 2022 and Joseph has terrorised England and Bangladesh in the West Indies’ home series victories taking 22 wickets at 25.81 ahead of his first Test series on Australian soil.
Joseph has taken 62 wickets at an average of 34.93 in his 22 Tests with best figures of 3/33, while he has 87 one day wickets from 54 matches at 27.61 with best figures of 5/56.
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The bouncy Australian pitches should suit Joseph, particularly the first Test surface at Perth’s Optus Stadium, which will be a far cry from the slow surfaces traditionally found in the Carribean in recent years.
Warner got a further taste of Joseph’s express pace when he was one of his six victims in the West Indies star’s 2019 Indian premier League debut.
I faced him in the IPL when he first came in and took six-for against us,” Warner said.
“Hopefully the wickets get back to what they were in the ‘80s and ‘90s in the Caribbean.”
Former West Indies’ skipper and current all-rounder Jason Holder, who was captain in Alzarri’s first Test, recalled the evolution of the young spearhead.
“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 told cricket.com.au.
“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.”
Holder believes Alzarri’s pace will be a crucial point of difference for the tourist’s attack in their first Test series down under in seven years.
“He’s got pace, he’s very aggressive at times too,” Holder said.
“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.”
