 "Alzarri Joseph created controversy after leaving the cricket pitch without informing captain Shai Hope during a match. Image: FanCode")
The West Indies vs England 3rd ODI at the Kensington Oval, Bridgetown in Barbados on Wednesday witnessed one of the most bizarre incidents as pacer Alzarri Joseph left the field unannounced while the Windies were bowling, after an argument with captain Shai Hope.
During the fourth over of the innings, Joseph was seen protesting to Hope about a field change. He then dismissed Jordan Cox in the same over but decided against celebrating with the team. As the over ended, Joseph left the field without informing the captain, leaving West Indies with just 10 fielders at the start of the fifth over.
Alzarri Joseph storms off pitch after argument with Shai Hope
Joseph returned to the field at the start of the sixth over but waited until the 12th to continue his spell. He managed two overs before briefly leaving again after two misfields led to England scoring two runs off overthrows. Later, he came back for two overs in the middle period and finished his remaining three during the death overs.
Joseph ended the match with a total of 2 for 45 in his 10 overs, having taken the wickets of Cox and Dan Mousley.
West Indies head coach Daren Sammy was livid with Joseph’s behaviour and labelled it “unacceptable”.
“Behaviour like that is unacceptable on my cricket field,” Sammy said to TalkSPORT after play. “We will be friends…but in the culture I’m trying to build, that’s unacceptable. We will definitely have a chat about that.”
Sammy: ‘Still a lot of work to be done’
Sammy has been credited for bringing a cultural change in the West Indies team which has suffered due to the rise of T20 leagues. The former T20 World Cup-winning captain has also convinced franchise cricket stars like Andre Russell and Evin Lewis to play once again for West Indies. He, however, feels that there’s still a long way to go as far as building the right team is concerned.
“I pride myself on having the difficult conversations,” said Sammy. “But in a way that everybody understands what is needed to be done. To see guys going out there and slowly progressing in the right direction makes me proud.
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More Shorts“There’s still a lot of work to be done, but it’s one that I’m quite passionate about.”