With a 5-fer on debut, which included a first-ball dismissal of Steve Smith, and his seven wickets in Brisbane after having his toe crushed by Mitchell Starc, Joseph has breathed new life into West Indies cricket.
Up until last week, the maroon village of Baracara in Guyana remained as unknown to much of the world as the country of Wakanda in the fictitious world of Marvel comics. Standing by the Canje Creek in the North Eastern region of the Caribbean country, only accessible by water, and a two-hour boat ride away from the nearest big city – New Amsterdam – the village is home to no more than 400 people. What are the odds, as West Indies became only the second side to beat Australia at their ‘fortress Gabba’ since 1988 – three years after India did so – it is one of Baracara’s sons who led the way.
Shamar Joseph, who had to be carried off the field on Saturday after Mitchell Starc’s toe crushing yorker cut short West Indies’ innings, came back on Sunday to rip through the Australian batting and notch seven wickets as West Indies won the Test by eight runs.
It’s all over!!!
Shamar Joseph takes SEVEN #AUSvWI pic.twitter.com/fsGR6cjvkj
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 28, 2024
Last week, his opening burst in Adelaide – that saw him deceive one Steve Smith off his very first delivery – had pitched him up alongside the sport’s finest debutants. Less than a year ago, Joseph wasn’t even a first class cricketer. Turning the clock back to 2021, he was working as a security officer in Berbice. Cut to January 2024, he is a firm contender for ICC’s Test cricketer of the month honor. How did that happen? Orlando Tanner, Joseph’s cousin, takes us back to their early days growing up in Baracara.
“The village that we’re from, the only thing that we know in terms of sport is Dominoes and cricket. We used to play cricket right in front of Shamar’s residence. That was by the waterfront. We used to call it jungle-land cricket,” Tanner tells The Indian Express over the phone from the Tucker Park Cricket Club in New Amsterdam. It’s the same club where he coaches and where Joseph played in his formative years. While the new West Indies pacer may have looked a natural with the red and the pink ball in his debut series, they weren’t the luxuries he or any of the Baracara kids could afford back in the day.
“At times, we used fruits. Because of the distance and because it’s a remote area, we hardly used to get taped balls. So we used anything that looked like a ball. Sometimes we’d melt the plastic from bottles and turn it into a ball and play cricket with that,” Tanner tells.
Shamar Joseph (second from left in bottom row) alongside his teammates at the Tucber Park Cricket Club in Georgetown. (Special Arrangement)
Despite the unabated passion for the sport, Joseph and Tanner – much like the rest of their group – were dissuaded by their parents from playing on weekends, especially on weekends. “As Seventh-Day Adventist christians, we were not allowed to play cricket on Saturday, which was solely for church. That is why Shamar never played youth cricket because his parents would not allow him. The village we’re from, people strongly believe in God,” says his cousin.
One need only look back at the history of settlement in Baracara to get a grasp of its people’s strong religious belief. The current residents are direct descendants of African slaves who escaped the local Amerindian tribes, who were hunting them for reward in the 19th century. As of 2024, Baracara remains the only maroon village in Guyana, with Scottish Presbyterian, Adventist and Pentecostal churches.
“As long as you’re living in your parents house, you cannot do anything other than Church and rest on Saturdays. We weren’t even allowed to watch TV on Saturday. Joseph would make a decision for himself in his adulthood,” Tanner adds.
A guardian angel
It was a decade ago that Damion Vantull visited Baracara alongside former West Indies ODI international Royston Crandon to play a match. And it was during this visit that he first came across Shamar Joseph, only 14 years of age at the time. “He was very competitive, I saw the potential in him but he was living in the river,” says Vantull, recalling his first impression of Joseph. “We stayed in touch. Around 2021, he kept asking me to sign him for the cricket club in Georgetown, because I was a member. I told him, ‘As soon as things get a little better for me, I’ll definitely bring you here so that you can play’.”
Vantull, a former Guyana cricketer-turned-businessman would keep his promise and helped Joseph come out of Baracara and leave his job as a security personnel to give a go at cricket. “At first, he asked if he could come and work for me at my business, but I told him, ‘You’re a fast bowler. If you work, you wouldn’t get the time to practice. You’d be tired. Come down here (Georgetown). Live in the apartment that I used to stay in. I’ll pay the bills. What I need you to do is to perform and stay committed to your family – at the time he had his girlfriend and he had his son. Whenever you make it in cricket, you can give it back to me’,” he tells.
There’s this WhatsApp exchange between the two in which Joseph shares photos of his first-ever cricket kit, which he brought from the first money Vantull gave him.
Shamar Joseph alongside his fiance and kids. (Special Arrangement)
Vantull isn’t reticent to admit that it wasn’t a deed he was just doing for Joseph, but also himself, for it was through the searing quick pacer that the former Guyanese cricketer wished to live his cricketing dreams. “I told him I was doing this for myself. This was my opportunity for him because I didn’t have any during my time. I played the game for my county but then I gave it up and studied business management and marketing. I didn’t have the time for cricket then, so I could relate to what he was going through. He’s very hard working and dedicated, and that I liked very much.”
Giving up on a stable job to become a cricketer in Guyana was a big leap, especially for Joseph, who had no credentials in the junior cricket circuit and had mouths to feed at home. “His girlfriend – now fiance – Trish was very supportive. I explained to them, ‘It won’t be a big palace type of thing but once you guys stick through the grind, you will have a good thing going in the future.’ They struggled but she was always there for him,” says Vantull.
A quick(’s) rise to the top
While it may have taken Joseph plenty more years than most of his counterparts took to make their first class debut in the Caribbean, once the Baracara boy chose to give his all to cricket, he had only one way to go.
Vantull remembers the first time Joseph took to the practice nets of the Muslim Youth Organisation (MYO) Sports Club, for whom he played club cricket in Georgetown. “His first delivery fractured the wicketkeeper’s hand.”
Within a year of playing full-time club cricket, Joseph got into the ranks of the Guyanese national side. A wonderful stroke of luck: the head coach of Guyana at the time was Esuan Crandon, brother of Royston Crandon with whom Vantull had visited Baracara in 2014, when he first came across Joseph.
The WhatsApp exchange between Joseph and Vantull where the former shares photos of his first-ever cricket kit, which he brought from the first money Vantull gave him.
“I asked him if Shamar could train. He said yes, and Shamar made the most of it. If he had to do 10 laps, he would do 10 for you, and then more for himself. Almost like a bunny, who always wanted to keep going. This curious guy, who was always eager to learn,” Vantull shares. “This journey he went through, it’s very difficult but he made it look so easy. He had the confidence that he’d make it to the West Indies team. He didn’t mind doing anything for it.”
By the time Joseph was in the fray for selection at the international stage, such had been his credentials that he’d even earned a validation from Curtly Ambrose during a fast-bowling clinic he attended from the former West Indies quick. It was only fitting that Shamar’s 7-fer on Sunday was the first time a West Indies pacer had snapped four wickets or more in the fourth innings of a Test match in Australia since Ambrose did so himself in 1993.
A new life for West Indies cricket
“Not since Lara, the GOAT, have I been this happy with a debutant for West Indies,” reads a fan entry at the CaribbeanCricket.com.
Vantull remembers going through his Facebook during the Adelaide Test. “Someone wrote, ‘What Shamar has done is united the entire nation.’ It cannot be more true. It doesn’t matter what race or religion you come from, you go through the internet, people are so happy. It’s so great what he has achieved in such a short period.”
After a 10-wicket loss in Adelaide, with a gutsy triumph in Brisbane, West Indies cricket and its most faithful finally have a reason to celebrate. The past two years have been a brutal reality check for the former two-time ODI and T20 World champions. While an early exit from the short-format World Cup in 2022 surely did hurt, not being able to qualify the 50-overs World Cup in India last year summed up the state of cricket in the Caribbean. Once a powerhouse in world cricket, the islands have now been reduced with T20 franchise superstars who have volatile relationships with the board that are the crux of poor outings at the international stage.
Shamar Joseph is a reminder of the raw talent they behold. Talent that originates from some of the most remote corners of the world. Talent good enough to beat some of the greatest of the sport on first go. “And I tell you, he won’t be satisfied by this one series. He won’t be a one shot,” bets Vantull. The odds surely can’t be against him.
Source:indianexpress.com