West Indies set to unleash new cricket pacer Shamar Joseph against Aussies

Breadcrumb Trail Links

Published Jan 16, 2024  •  4 minute read

Australia’s David Warner (left) celebrates a catch to dismiss Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan. Getty Images

The cream of the Test world or, for that matter, of the game today faces one of the greatest teams of another era on home soil.

Advertisement 2

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.

SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES

Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.

REGISTER TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES

Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.

Article content

Love ’em or hate ’em, Pat Cummins’ Aussies — who sit on top of the world — entertain the once-powerful West Indies in a two-Test series while, thousands of miles away on another continent, the next two best squads will lock horns with India entertaining England in a five-Test series.

Article content

Millions of words have been written on the greatness of these squads and nothing has changed as the press keeps harping on how New Zealand coach Brendon McCullum has transformed England into an all-action squad that has been termed Bazball — the nickname of the coach.

England did get off a hot start under McCullum with a historic 3-0 victory in Pakistan. Then came the Ashes series in England and Bazball took a backseat to the Aussies.

The Aussies won the first two Tests and England came back with a mighty bang to tie the series 2-2 with one Test ending in a tie.

Advertisement 3

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Article content

And, against all expectations, Cummins’ squad returned home with the urn that holds the Ashes.

Now, England gets another opportunity to put Bazball back in play against a team that is almost as unbreachable as Fort Knox at home.

England’s previous trip to India three years ago saw the home team’s spinning wickets going all giddy as Joe Root’s team was sent home packing in a one-sided 3-1 pasting.

There’s no doubt new captain Ben Stokes and coach McCullum have injected new life in the England lineup and they will be no pushover this time around. Stokes has undergone surgery on his left knee. but it’s almost certain he will bat and bowl in India unlike the Ashes series and also in the World Cup last year, when he featured only as a batsman.

Advertisement 4

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Article content

Stokes is hoping to become the second England captain to crack open India’s defences since Alastair Cook, who achieved the near-impossible by winning in 2012.

England will have an incisive fast bowling attack and the spinners could also give the Indian spinners a run for their money. England has picked four spinners in the squad of 16, including teenage leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed, Jack Leach, Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir.

The eternal fast-bowling superstar James Anderson is back in India at the age of 41 and he will share the new ball with Ollie Robinson, the speedy Mark Wood and Gus Atkinson.

The batting looks strong with Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Root, Harry Brook and Jonny Bairstow, plus Stokes, of course.

Rohit Sharma will be looking for redemption following that crushing loss to Australia in the World Cup final.

Advertisement 5

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Article content

India, too, has named four spinners in its squad, but it will be without ace pacer Mohammad Shami, who had a brilliant World Cup. He is out with an injured ankle, but India is hoping he will be back for the last two Tests.

Jasprit Bumrah will spearhead the attack along with Mohammad Shiraj and Mukesh Patel. The spinners include the incisive and dangerous Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Play Video

Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav are two who can be a handful and, if the wickets take spin, expect Axar to be a threat.

India’s batting has always been solid with Sharma and Virat Kohli expected to pile on the runs with help from Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer and the dependable wicketkeeper KL Rahul. India also has named three wicketkeepers, including 22-year-old Dhruv Jurel and KS Bharat.

Advertisement 6

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Article content

Down Under, the Aussies entertain a West Indies squad which has taken a plunge from dominating the game 20 years ago to minnow status in Test cricket. A whole generation of fans have missed the force the Calypso Kings were in their prime with exciting, belligerent batsmen and a scary bunch of fast bowlers.

All eyes in this series will be on young fast bowler Shamar Joseph, who reminds many of those bygone days when the likes of Joel Garner, Andy Roberts, Colin Croft and Malcolm Marshall put the scare in every batsman.

Meanwhile, Australia goes into this series for the first time without opening batsman David Warner, who retired two weeks ago. After much debate, the selectors gave his coveted spot to former captain and No. 4 batsman Steve Smith.

Advertisement 7

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Article content

There are no personnel changes in this squad while Kraigg Braithwaite’s visitors are expected to hand caps to three newcomers, including Joseph.

Recommended from Editorial

Canada will attract millions when it faces India and Pakistan in Twenty20 World Cup

Polarizing cricket legend David Warner bows out of the game

Expect young middle-order batsmen Kavem Hodge and Justin Greaves to start their Test careers in Australia. Joseph has played just five first-class matches and he made a huge impression with for Windies A on tour of South Africa, when he took 12 wickets.

One of the former Windies star fast bowler Ian Bishop is excited with what he has seen of Joseph who constantly bowls around 140 km/h.

“I caught a sight of him in the nets and he has hustle, bustle and really comes at you,” Bishop said. “There’s a lot of high hopes for him because of his attitude and because of his physical capabilities.”

Check out our sports section for the latest news and analysis.

Article content

Share this article in your social network