By Brandon Corlette

The West Indies seam bowling attack led by the accurate and highly skilled Kemar Roach and features Mr. accuracy Jason Holder, the aggressive Shannon Gabriel, and the promising Alzarri Joseph have been the talk of the town.

These pacemen are regarded as one of the better attacks in Test cricket currently. However, the man who moves the ball more than these four is Guyanese Keemo Paul, who opted out of the tour owing to health and family concerns.

Paul, who is equipped with the skill of swing and seam, will be missed on this England Test tour. Responding to Cricnation592 question in his virtual presser on Saturday, Joseph noted that Paul will be missed. “Keemo is an addition to any team, he will be missed but at this very moment he decided not to come, so we have to make do with what we have. We have more than capable players to put out a strong team,” Joseph posited on his former West Indies U-19 teammate.

BRIDGETOWN, BARBADOS – JANUARY 24: Alzarri Joseph of West Indies celebrates after taking the wicket of Ben Foakes of England during Day Two of the First Test match between England and West Indies at Kensington Oval on January 24, 2019 in Bridgetown, Barbados. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

The 23-year old Joseph, who played that Under-19 World Cup with Paul back in 2016, had the opportunity to tour England back in 2017 but he had a challenging tour during that period. Joseph has since evolved and became a stronger bowler in recent times and this was also shown in the recent practice match where he had a good outing, claiming four wickets. He noted that the experience played a role in his success.

While Joseph emphasized consistency, he believes that his role is to back up the senior bowlers in the squad, penetrate the middle order, and hold one end for the team. Before West Indies play the first Test on July 8, they will conclude their final match preparation with a 4-Day intra-squad match up from June 29.

Joseph, who played in the series against England in the Caribbean last year and peppered the Englishmen with some body-line bowling noted that it is time for the bowlers to assess in different conditions as this in England. While some teams will see Joseph as the weak point in the four-prong pace attack, the key for Joseph is to take wickets in England, hitting a good area and extract the seam movement on offer.

“I can use this (teams seeing me as the weak-point) as an advantage for me to get on top of teams because I know my capabilities,” Joseph echoed. The right-arm speedster added that he is aiming to help the West Indies move higher in the rankings if he is given the opportunity.

Joseph, who hails from Antigua has looked to former West Indies bowler Kenny Benjamin for advice. The young seamer who has proven to be mentally fit, after losing his Mom in the home series against England, disclosed that he remained strong and made memories on that day while playing for the West Indies.

With the batting group being the weak link in the squad, Joseph, who had an opportunity to bowl against some of them in the first practice match, noted that the batsmen are equipped and capable to make strong batting statements.

This series will be played behind closed doors and Joseph is unfazed of playing in an empty stadium. He noted that this is similar to the Regional 4-Day tournament where Stadiums are mostly empty. The humble lad has nine Test matches under his belt with 25 wickets to his name. He is yet to pick up his maiden Test fifer; but he offers a lot to the table.