Shamar Joseph who made his International debut this month took 7 wickets in the 4th innings at Gabba which was the main reason for West Indies' famous win at Gabba today!
But his story is really very inspiring, people will know him for this 7/68 at Gabba but less than a year ago, he wasn’t even a First-class cricketer. Interestingly, when India mauled the Aussies in Gabba in 2021, Joseph was working as a security officer in Berbice. The left-arm quick, who hails from a remote area in Guyana, used fruits or melted plastic bottles and turned them into a ball and played cricket with his cousin.
Guyanese cricket player Shamar Joseph was born on August 31, 1999 in Baracara, a small community East Berbice-Corentyne. Joseph was raised in a household with five brothers and three sisters. Joseph watched the West Indies cricket team's opening bowlers Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh's highlights as a child and tried to emulate them in his tape ball games around the hamlet.
Baracara had just one black-and-white television and no other means of communication besides landlines, thus he grew up with little to no access to the internet or phone service (the village apparently only gained internet in 2018). Furthermore, Baracara only had a primary school and a tiny health center; the hamlet lacked space for a secondary school. Prior to his professional cricket career, he did daily-wage labour jobs in various sectors.
In his early days, Shamar Joseph, along with his father and siblings, was employed in the logging business, felling and chopping logs in the Bacara and bringing the wood to New Amsterdam via the Canje River. After almost getting struck by a falling tree, Joseph made the decision to leave Bacara and moved to New Amsterdam in order to support his family.
Shamar Joseph was hired as a labourer in the construction industry in New Amsterdam before moving on to become a security guard. His employment as a security guard included long 12-hour hours, both during the day and at night, which limited his time for cricket pursuits. Joseph ultimately made the decision to leave his work and devote himself full-time to his cricketing goals, with the help of his fiancée.
Shamar Joseph's first break in cricket came through fellow Guyanese Romario Shepherd. Joseph made connections with prominent Guyanese players and head coach Esuan Crandon after Shepherd introduced him to the Guyana cricket squad.
Joseph made a big impression right away in Division 1 cricket, with debut figures of 6/13. He also went to Curtly Ambrose's fast bowling clinic in Berbice. In a trial match, he took eight wickets, further solidifying his dominance and leading to a call-up to the first-class cricket team.
Following a successful List-A career, Shamara Joseph joined the Guyana Amazon Warriors as an injury substitute for Keemo Paul in the 2023 Caribbean Premier League, when he was first brought in as a net bowler. Joseph was inspired to pursue his cricket career by Prasanna Agoram, a Warriors talent scout, whom he met during his first CPL tenure, Joseph impressed with his ability to routinely hit paces above 140 kmph in CPL.
Shamar's international debut soon followed as he was included in th Test squad. The pacer made his maiden delivery in international cricket memorable with the wicket of The pacer made his maiden delivery in international cricket memorable with the wicket of modern-day great Steve Smith and in the same month he created history winning the game for West Indies in Australia!
