Should Alzarri Joseph be picked for West Indies?

Concerned that the prevalence of spin was "impacting negatively" on pace, the West Indies Cricket Board directed its cricket committee last June "to make further recommendations to prioritise the development of fast bowlers in the region and for the West Indies team".

Whether or not purely coincidental, the powerfully built Alzarri Joseph, 6ft 4in of genuine pace, has suddenly emerged to unsettle batsmen and ease the WICB's anxiety.

The reasonable expectation is that his influence on the West Indies' triumph in the recent Under-19 World Cup, beamed live on television throughout the Caribbean, might inspire a revival of fast bowling, always the hallmark of the finest West Indies teams.

Joseph was clocked delivering the fastest ball in the tournament - at 91.5mph. He consistently hovered around the high 80s-90mph. He claimed at least one wicket in each of his opening bursts. Helmets were hit, gloves were jammed against bat handles. Of his 13 wickets, four were bowled, with stumps ripped out of the ground, three were lbw, and three caught by wicketkeeper Tevin Imlach off tentative edges or miscued hooks. Another was stumped, not a notation to please any fast bowler, as the alert Imlach pinged the stumps when India's careless opener Rishabh Pant was out of his ground after letting the third ball he faced in the final go through.