"Not representing Darren Sammy" — Alzarri Joseph blames head coach Darren Sammy for non-selection

The West Indies fast bowler, Alzarri Joseph, has responded to Darren Sammy’s statement that he had ‘declined selection’ for the side during the ongoing two-match Test series against Pakistan at home. He claimed that the words of the head coach had been controversial without context. 

Joseph has featured in 42 Test matches for the Caribbean side and has picked up 130 wickets in 79 innings at an average of 33.56 and a strike rate of 54 with the help of three four-wicket hauls and a couple of five-wicket hauls at the best bowling figures of 5/27 in an innings.

What exactly did Darren Sammy say about Alzarri Joseph declining selection?

A week earlier, while announcing the West Indies squad of 15 members, Joseph was noted to be unavailable due to personal reasons as Sammy confirmed that he had declined selection.

“Mr Joseph has declined selection. That's the reality of the situation. He was selected. I mean, he's now coming from injury. And for reasons since, he has declined the selection.” The former World Cup-winning captain for West Indies revealed.

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“That is a decision that is way over my head. I leave that with the directors to come up with whatever solutions where contracted players get to decline selection.” Sammy addressed this in the press conference.

How Alzarri Joseph responded to his head coach's comments

Joseph played both the Test matches against Sri Lanka in June-July, picking up six wickets across the two games, and played the five-match ODI series against the Kiwis. Joseph reflected on not growing any relationship with any player.

“I'm a professional, so I'm going to go to work. I am representing the West Indies. I'm not representing Daren Sammy, so for me, I'm neither here nor there in terms of a relationship. I don't go there to make friends. I go there to work and do a job and represent the people of the West Indies.” The fast bowler said on the Antigua Observer’s Good Morning Jojo Sports show.

“Obviously, I've been out for an entire year. I haven't played at international intensity for so long after having a second stress fracture. We spoke about me playing the two Test matches here, playing five back-to-back ODIs, and how my body was feeling, and I knew to myself, my body was not ready to go into another Test series.” The West Indies fast bowler added. 

Inside Alzarri Joseph's past angry clash with Shai Hope

This is the first such incident when Joseph showed his anger at his team-mate. It was during an ODI against England when the pacer wanted a particular field placement while their captain, Shai Hope, wasn’t reluctant to change his field placement, despite his fast bowler’s request.

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The entire situation fired up the Antigua-born, who bowled an aggressive short ball to Jordan Cox to dismiss the batter. As they tried to celebrate, Joseph didn’t speak a single word to Hope and carried himself into the dressing room with anger.

Sammy came out of the chair and tried to cool things down. That was the first of many incidents where the bowler lost his cool.