Alzarri Joseph has responded to Daren Sammy’s statement that he had “declined selection” for West Indies’ ongoing Test series against Pakistan at home, saying the head coach’s words were “controversial, without context.”
“We had a chat, myself and the head coach. I’ve also had a chat with CWI and if you realise the statement CWI released said personal reasons. Mr Sammy, being around for a long time, he knows exactly what that statement would have done so, to be honest, I have nothing to say to Mr Sammy in terms of his statement,” Joseph said on the Antigua Observer’s Good Morning Jojo Sports Show. “Like I said, he knows exactly what that statement would have done and the narrative it would have pushed in the public.”
On July 23, the squad for the series was announced and Joseph, a CWI statement said, had been unavailable owing to “personal reasons”. The very next day, Sammy, speaking at a press conference, had said, “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.”
Joseph clarified that the stress fracture in his lower back, which had forced him to miss tours of India and New Zealand before allowing him to come back for the Tests against Sri Lanka in June this year, had made him cautious. He was out of action for almost a year.
“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,” Joseph said. “We spoke about me playing the two Test matches here, playing five back-to-back ODIs [against New Zealand earlier this month] and how my body was feeling and I knew to myself, my body was not ready to go into another Test series. So, the statement in itself is controversial, without context.”
Would Sammy’s statement, and Joseph’s rebuttal, make it tough for the two of them to work together going forward?
“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,” Joseph said. “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.”
West Indies are 1-0 up in the two-match Test series against Pakistan, with the second Test starting on Sunday. Their next assignment is a limited-overs series in India in September-October.