West Indies scout ‘declines selection’ for Pakistan Test series, coach Darren Sammy calls ‘reality of situation’

Alzarri Joseph, Darren Sammy West Indies head coach Darren Sammy said fast bowler Alzarri Joseph has been made unavailable for the home two-Test series against Pakistan, claiming the pacer declined selection despite being picked in the squad.Cricket West Indies had earlier announced that Joseph would miss the series due to personal reasons. Before the initial test, Sammy provided more details about the situation.“Yes, it’s a big loss. Mr. Joseph declined selection. That’s the reality,” Sammy said at a press conference on the eve of the series opener.“He’s been selected. I mean he’s coming back from injury now. And for reasons since then he’s declined selection. That’s a decision that’s over my head. I leave it to the directors to come up with whatever solution contract players get to decline selection,” the coach said.Joseph featured in both Tests against Sri Lanka in June–July, taking six wickets in the two matches. He also played in the five-match ODI series against New Zealand, taking 4-41 in the opening match.Joseph played 42 Tests for the West Indies and took 130 wickets. He has represented the Caribbean side across all three formats.Despite missing one of his frontline fast bowlers, Sammy said he remains confident in the attack available for the Pakistan series.The bowling unit includes Shamar Joseph, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales and all-rounders Justin Greaves and Keemo Paul. Spin duties will be handled by Jomel Warrican, rookie Joshua Bishop and captain Roston Chase.“What I can tell you (is) we’ve got 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 enough bowling power 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 batsmen put in, you could see it pay off in the Test series against Sri Lanka.”“You know, there’s a lot more consistency coming in. So once we match the scoring of those two batsmen, we know we’ve got the bowling line-up to take 20 wickets and help us win Test matches,” Sammy said.The first Test begins on Saturday (July 25), while the second Test will be played in Port of Spain from August 2.