‘We used lemons to play’ - Shamar Joseph reflects on his early days playing cricket

West Indies’ pace sensation Shamar Joseph lit the stage on fire with his recent performances for the side. The 24-year-old recently put in an exceptional performance against Australia and helped the West Indies beat the Aussies away from home in a historic win. 

He might be getting closer to the mountaintop, but like many others, Joseph had humble beginnings as well. In a recent interview, Joseph came forward to talk about his childhood village. 

The youngster was brought up in the Guyanese village of Baracara, and he talked about how they used anything they could as balls and how his relatives and the other villagers would gather to play cricket. 

“There is an area we call a jungle and we started playing cricket there. We used lime, lemon, anything that looked round we used. We had a cream cup, we used to take the same bumper ball, force it inside the cup to get good compression. We used to play with tape ball, insulation tape,” Shamar Joseph said in an interview with SkySports.

“We were in our school alone, a bunch of young men because I have five other brothers, we already have a team with our family. Other young men around the village would come along and we all play together. Sometimes, we start at 7 in the morning and end at 4 in the afternoon,” he added.

Also Read: Shamar Joseph, Gudakesh Motie miss West Indies' tour game after flight from Guyana cancelled due to Hurricane Beryl

I would want to ruin that farewell for him: Joseph

It is worth noting that the West Indies are all set to take on England in a Test series, the first of which will begin on July 10, when both sides will lock horns at the Lord’s Cricket Ground. The clash will also be the final one for veteran pacer James Anderson, and Shamar Joseph wants to ruin the farewell party for him. 

“He is such an amazing player. Someone I have looked up to. Someone who is very good at this level. You could say he’s perfect because he has a lot of wickets at this level. Definitely, I would want to ruin that farewell for him,” Joseph was quoted as saying by India Today.