Former West Indies and national fast bowler, Kenneth Benjamin, believes the recent elevation of Alzarri Joseph to the post of vice captain in the senior West Indies men’s team, could be a positive development for the 27-year-old.
“The responsibility that he got will help him to mature and it will help his cricket. The thing about it is when you’re in those sorts of positions you will have more dialogue, more discussions with players because of the role you’re playing, and it can only help your cricket. I always thought Alzarri was more of a bit of a standoff [kind of person], but now that he is captain for the Leewards and vice-captain for West Indies, then obviously he will be in more discussions which would only broaden his scope, broaden his horizon and educate him more,” he said.
Joseph was recently named vice captain of the West Indies squad for the pending CG United One-Day International (ODI) Series against England. The news comes just weeks after he was named captain of the Leeward Islands Hurricanes for the just-concluded CWI Super 50 Championships.
Benjamin believes the Antiguan has the ability to get the job done.
“We’re going to see decisions, bowling changes and field settings and so on that we don’t agree with, and it happens with every captain, but the important thing is that he talks to the players and he understands cricket, so I think those two components are very good. Other things he can learn as he goes along, and most of the time [you get it] when you have that sort of responsibility, and Alzarri can lead. He can take an attack as a bowler and lead that, and I think that is very good because I think people are happy when they can look up to someone who is leading and can take the bull by the horn and say, just follow me,” the former player said.
Benjamin, who claimed 92 wickets in 26 Tests and another 33 in 26 ODIs, also sought to dispel the notion that only batsmen can lead.
“Courtney Walsh, to me, was a wonderful captain. I captained the Leeward Islands a couple of times and I felt I did fairly ok. Michael Holding captained Jamaica for a long time, you have Bob Willis [former England captain], Kapil Dev [Indian cricketer], Ian Botham [England cricketer] and now you have this guy from Australia [Pat Cummins] being the captain, and so I think it’s just hearsay. I don’t know why they think that a batsman leading is different from a bowler leading. If you can lead and you can get the job done as the front man, then there is nothing wrong with that. I think what people are looking for is leaders,” he said.
The CG United ODI Series, consisting of three matches, will bowl-off with two ODIs at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on December 3 and December 6. The third and final ODI will be held at Kensington Oval, Barbados, on December 9.
When will the bais and favoritism in West indies cricket go away as performance beats favouritism. T& T should get out of West Indies cricket because of that shitty board the WICB and with these bais selectors like Desmond Haynes I don’t care where he got this honorary degree it is worth zero. 🙏✌️🖕✋️🖖🖐💯🙏
Trinidad and any other West Indian territory that want to get out of West Indies cricket should go right ahead because they will come back to the West Indies fold within five years.