WI v Eng – Daren Sammy calls Alzarri Joseph’s behavior of leaving the ground “unacceptable”

During the fourth over of the Bridgetown innings, Joseph was unhappy with a field placement and could be seen protesting with Hope. After the fourth ball, Joseph removed the lagging Jordan Cox, but did not celebrate with his team, instead immediately returning to his target. At the end of the over, Joseph left the field unannounced and went to the dressing room, forcing the West Indies to start the fifth over with only ten fielders on the field.

“Such behavior is unacceptable on my cricket field,” Sammy told TalkSPORT after the game. “We will be friends… but in the culture I’m trying to build, that’s unacceptable. We will definitely talk about it.”

Joseph returned to the field at the start of the sixth over but did not resume bowling until the 12th. He bowled two more overs before leaving the field again after England gained two runs from overthrows on two misfields from his bowling. He later returned to bowl two more in the middle overs and the remaining three at the death.

Joseph finished the match with a tally of 2 for 45 from his 10 overs after dismissing Cox and Dan Mousley.

Sammy, who was appointed West Indies head coach in May 2023, is widely recognized for his people skills and has convinced several players such as Andre Russell and Evin Lewis to return to the international game.

“I take pride in having the difficult conversations,” Sammy said. “But in a way that everyone understands what needs to be done. Seeing guys go out and slowly progress in the right direction makes me proud.”

“There is still a lot to do, but it is something that is very close to my heart.”

West Indies won the ODI series 2-1 and the five-match T20 series begins on Saturday, with Sammy hinting that some of the star names who were absent from their last series against Sri Lanka, such as Nicholas Pooran and Akeal Hosein, to return firmly.

“We have a few senior players who weren’t in Sri Lanka who we expect to come back,” Sammy said. “Our T20 team is our most successful team and our most stable team. So, yes, we integrate some new people to give them that exposure, but our T20 team is usually self-selecting.”