Joseph steps out of cricket

Incumbent West Indies A team captain, Sylvester Joseph has announced that he will be taking a break from professional cricket owing to “personal reasons”. The news was revealed in the Antigua Sun newspaper.

The 28-year-old middle order batsman has declared himself unavailable for the upcoming Leeward Islands tournament. He has led his home country of Antigua for the past six seasons, earning great esteem as one of the better captains in the region. He also led Leeward Islands in the regional tournament. Earlier this year, Joseph’s name was mentioned as a possible consideration for the West Indies captaincy, following the retirement of Brian Lara. The position went to Ramnaresh Sarwan.

Joseph’s decision is thought to be linked to his omission from the West Indies one-day international squad that toured England recently. Joseph was included in the Test squad, and scored 13 and 1 in his only appearances of the series.

Joseph has played 5 Tests and 13 ODI matches for West Indies.