Even with minimal assistance from his teammates — as the West Indies squandered four chances on the opening day of the inaugural Test match against Australia in Barbados — Shamar Joseph Would have, or more accurately should have, finished with a five-wicket haul if not for a contentious call made by third umpire Adrian Holdstock.
Shamar Joseph, filled with pride after dismantling Australia's top order, bowled a short and wide delivery as the 46th over commenced. Travis Head The Aussie batsman took a mighty swing but failed to make contact with the ball. As the sphere whizzed by the bat, Joseph launched a loud appeal. He nearly fell into begging, yet Umpire Nitin Menon declined the request with a shake of his head.
Joseph subsequently queried the keeper, Shai Hope, about his uncertainty regarding whether the catch was clean or not. The West Indies skipper, Roston Chase, similarly refuted having gone upstairs. However, umpire Nitin Menon opted for a discussion with the square-leg umpire and chose to send it upstairs, requesting the third umpire to determine if the ball had indeed landed in Hope’s gloves after hitting the batter. This indicated that Menon believed Head had made contact with the bat.
The UltraEdge clearly indicated that the ball hit the underside of Head’s bat as it passed him, confirming contact from below. However, this raised another challenging question: Had the ball carried all the way through? After viewing the initial replay, both the West Indian team members began celebrating jubilantly, which naturally prompted similar reactions from the spectators at Kensington Oval. Yet, Head himself felt justified in believing that the delivery might not have cleared the ground. While one replay suggested that it indeed carried through, another less distinct view left room for doubt. Despite taking ample time to consider—time he rightly needed—the umpire Holdstock unexpectedly sided with the batsman, ruling that there wasn’t definitive proof showing the ball carrying cleanly into Hope’s hands.
"It appears as though the ball reaches Hope, yet the third umpire (Adrian Holdstock) states that there isn’t clear proof of the ball carrying. Wow—this ruling is bound to spark much discussion well beyond today, and what an impactful choice this could turn out to be?! " reads ESPNCricinfo’s live commentary.
Social media was flooded with numerous responses, predominantly criticizing third umpire Holdstock for depriving Joseph of a five-wicket haul.
The head couldn't cause further harm as he managed to score just six additional runs, bringing his total to 59 before being dismissed.
Joseph, who claimed four of the initial five Australian wickets on the opening day on the excellent Barbados track, couldn’t finish with a five-wicket haul himself, but his teammate Jayden Seals accomplished this feat for him.
Seales claimed figures of 5-60, recording his third five-wicket haul, all achieved in home conditions. However, Shamar Joseph outshone him with bowling stats of 4-46. Over nine Tests, he boasts an impressive tally of 34 wickets, with half coming from Australian batsmen. He dominated the morning session.
In their innings against the West Indies, Australia was all out within 57 overs, recording their lowest score ever at just 180 runs when they batted first. Only three batsmen managed scores above single digits: Usman Khawaja with 47 runs, Travis Head scoring 59, and team captain Pat Cummins contributing 28 runs.
However, the Australian pacemen responded strongly by dismissing West Indies for 57 runs at stumps. Mitchell Starc took two wickets, while skipper Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood each claimed one.
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