Shamar Joseph: The West Indies hero who will change Test cricket

Shamar Joseph has produced one of the greatest fast bowling displays ever seen on Australian shores. It could change the future of Test cricket, writes ROBERT CRADDOCK.

Mark it down as one of the greatest displays ever seen in Australia from an overseas bowler and one which could reshape the future of the game.

And to think it came from a young man who three years ago had not even played with a hard cricket ball.

Who didn’t know what cricket fitness was.

Who hadn’t been on an escalator until five years ago.

Who was playing just his second Test.

Who comes from a village which didn’t have the internet until five years ago.

Who wasn’t born the last time the West Indies won a Test match in Australia.

Instant superstar Shamar Joseph did a half a lap of the Gabba after taking his seventh wicket and uprooting Australia 207 for victory by eight runs, roaring off into an unforgettable place in cricket folklore.

Just as the Tied Test at the Gabba between the same teams was seen as a pivotal force in reviving Test cricket so can this match play a similar role.

When 990 fans (later growing to 3162) turned up the Gabba for the start of play on Sunday they could have hardly expected to see a win which will surely rate as the greatest upset in Test history.

Shamar Joseph is mobbed by his West Indian teammates after his stunning seven wicket haul to guide his side to victory at the Gabba. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images.

When the West Indies were 5-64 in the first innings the TAB had them $67 and no-one was biting. Why would they?

Cyclone Kirrily, which has been floating around Queensland’s tropics for a week, seemed like a gentle zephyr compared to Joseph, who swept up Australia’s top order in his vortex in one of the greatest performances seen on Australian shores by an overseas fast bowler.

That is a big statement. When you think of Curtly Ambrose’s 7-1 against Australia in Perth and Richard Hadlee’s decimation of against Australia in Brisbane in the mid-1980s you think of bowling perfection.

But this was a kid playing his second Test with a foot so sore he didn’t even want to come to the ground.

Joseph’s performance will also see him enter cricket’s exalted hall of fame for wounded warriors who produced magical acts when no-one expected them to.

One of the greatest individual sporting feats in the history of the world. Shamar Joseph is the story of the decade already #AusvWIpic.twitter.com/pUfdjmN1gi

— Bharat Sundaresan (@beastieboy07) January 28, 2024

There’s Dean Jones, who made a double century in Madras when he was so dehydrated he almost fainted. There’s Eddie Paynter who guided England to victory in a Bodyline Test at the Gabba after leaving hospital suffering from tonsillitis and arriving at the dressing room in his pyjamas.

And now there is Joseph who pushed Australia off the cliff despite an horrendously sore foot sustained when he was struck by Mitchell Starc the night before.

Somehow he pushed the speedometer to 149kph despite the fact he could not walk properly. In fact the worse his limp got the faster he bowled. Extraordinary.

With the West Indies struggling as a Test nation and finding that an increased number of their stars desert to five day game to play white ball franchise cricket, this was just the legendary performance the West Indies needed to convince the world – and themselves – of their future in the five-day game.

Shamar Joseph of the West Indies did a lap around the Gabba despite his injured toe after taking his seventh wicket against Australia. Picture: Pat Hoelscher / AFP.

Australia were seemingly cruising to victory at 2-113. One by one potential heroes came and went.

Cam Green played on to one which struck his arm. Travis Head was hopelessly beaten and bowled first ball for a king pair. Mitch Marsh edged a peach of a ball to second slip. Alex Carey lost his off-peg after it rebounded off pad.

All the while there was Steve Smith at the other end, scrapping, clawing and generally doing nothing crazy until his stunning scoop shot for six over backward square leg – from outside off stump.

Even the sight of the teams mingling warmly with each other after play was a throwback to the Tied Test when they did the same after stumps.

This was a beautiful game of cricket in every respect.

The day match had the feel of that famous Tied Test between the same two teams in the 1960-61 summer with the stands sparsely populated yet the tension reaching unbearable levels as wickets fell. Even the bookies struggled to believe what they were seeing.

It was not until Australia lost their eighth wicket that the West Indies became TAB favourites to win.

The increasing verve of the West Indian celebrations, with Joseph doing galloping laps of honour trailed by his teammate, were like watching the halcyon days of the 1980s when Viv Richards and company used to prance around the like kings they were.

Test cricket … what a game.