West Indies Test tour of Australia 2024: “WE’RE HERE TO WIN”
– Vice-Captain Alzarri Joseph
After their team had been announced weeks ago, there had been much talk about West Indies having 7 uncapped players for their 2-match Test series against Australia. However, according to vice-captain Alzarri Joseph, this factor is no detriment to the Caribbean team, who are in Australia to win.
Ahead of the two-Test Series between West Indies and hosts Australia, set to bowl off this evening Caribbean time, a confident Alzarri Joseph fielded a number of questions from local media Down Under.
The West Indies red-ball vice-captain revealed that the Men in maroon are there to challenges the Aussies and come away with a win.
“We expect to come in and give them a challenge. We’re here to win two Test matches, not just here to play. So, we’re going to come out here and give it our best,” Joseph confidently shared.
Following their warmup match, West Indies have continued preparation for the Test series which begins tonight
Given West Indies’ unconventional inclusion of 7 uncapped players in the 15-man Test squad, Joseph was quizzed on whether there are nerves, and what possible debutants bring to the team.
The Pace bowler responded, “Everyone’s here, you know, wanting to play for the West Indies. It’s an opportunity for everyone to represent their country, so I don’t think there’s any nerves in the camp. I think it’s more of excitement. They’re all different players, so they all bring something new to the table. They all bring a different style of play to the table, so it’s all good for us,” the Antiguan cricketer added.
Touching the topic of a ‘new- era West Indies’, Joseph revealed the brand of cricket the Caribbean team hopes to play.
“For us, it’s about being brave, being positive; but everyone has their different ways of going about it, so it’s about, you know, bringing those ways together as one brand of cricket,” Joseph explained.
The first Test in the 2-match series will bowl off at 19:30hrs today, January 16, and conclude on January 20 (Caribbean time- January 17th to 21st in Australia). The second match will run from January 25-29 (January 24 to 28th in the Caribbean).
The Test Squad to face Australia from today reads: Captain Kraigg Brathwaite, Vice-Captain Alzarri Joseph, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Kirk McKenzie, Alick Athanaze, Kavem Hodge, Justin Greaves, Joshua DaSilva, Akeem Jordan, Gudakesh Motie, Kemar Roach, Kevin Sinclair, Tevin Imlach, Shamar Joseph and Zachary McCaskie.
