Watching Shamar Joseph destroy Australia from the Joel Garner End … with Joel Garner
'This is impressive,' Garner tells this masthead with a smile. 'It takes me back to our younger days of playing right here. The wickets used to be a bit quicker. It's always good to encourage the young bowlers.'
In the 1970s and 80s, Garner shared the ball with some of the greatest pacemen the game has known— Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Colin Croft and later Malcolm Marshall.
No prominent West Indian quick boasts a better bowling average against Australia than Garner (20.89). Of the great West Indian fast bowlers, only Marshall (20.94) has a better overall Test bowling average than Garner (20.97).
Sitting alongside old friends he's known for decades, as drinks staff pass around coconut rum and beers, Garner reflects on Joseph's rise, 18 months after his match-winning performance at the Gabba that sealed the West Indies' first win in Australia for 27 years.
Does Joseph remind him of anyone?
'One of the things I don't do when I watch the cricket is make comparisons,' Garner says. 'We're impressed by the way he bowls and hopefully he can continue it.
'What I like about him is that he has a preference for Test cricket and I hope they don't encourage him to play T20 cricket and get away from the real joys of the game - where you want to spend time bowling at some of the better batsmen.
'I am impressed that he is hungry for success. You can see he's very enthusiastic and he's always trained hard.'
As Joseph continues to thunder in and test Australia's batsmen, Garner speaks with immense joy about post-cricket life in the Caribbean.
'Right now, I'm a spectator,' Garner says. 'I've retired from nearly everything. I prefer to live a simple life these days. I like where I am here in the company of friends, just having a quiet drink.'
He laughs when asked what his poison of choice is at the cricket.
'I drink everything. It depends what time of day,' he says. 'Beers when it's hot and rum at night when it's cool. I spend a fair amount of time too with the legends who played Test cricket.'
There was a time when the West Indies were untouchable, going unbeaten in 29 consecutive Test series.
Garner has a theory about why the golden years faded.
'We haven't done a very good job of selling cricket to the youngsters at junior cricket level and at under-19 level,' Garner says. 'We are competitive with the rest of the world [in youth cricket] but after that, the fellas fall away. There are a lot of distractions here.
'I watch school cricket. We have a lot of talent but the problem is between school and club cricket. We've got to get the school and clubs to encourage them to keep playing cricket.
'We look forward to the time when we can say they are competitive again.'
Is he a fan of T20 cricket? Garner chuckles.
'I laugh because I think that T20 cricket should be owned by all the individual territories and not by private enterprise,' Garner says. 'If T20 cricket was owned by all the member territories, then the money that is made from T20 cricket will go back into the development of the sport and individual territories.'
Back on the field, Joseph is still dominating. He bowls Beau Webster for 11 to claim his fourth wicket, leaving Australia reeling at 5-123. The commentators label the delivery 'unplayable' as it nips away off the seam and cannons into Webster's off stump. He looks stunned.
Garner names Allan Border as the toughest batsman to bowl to in his heyday.
'He was always a thorn in the side of the West Indies,' Garner says. 'It was competitive and tough but at the end of the day, I made a lot of friends from cricket. We all remain friends, even though we had fierce battles.
'I had a few tussles with Greg Chappell in the early days and then Allan Border.'
Garner agrees to take a photo and offers a parting handshake with his enormous right hand that sent down a cricket ball at frightening speed.
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He also has some advice to those who've followed the Australians to the Caribbean and just watched Joseph tear through the tourists by taking 4-46.
'Enjoy every minute of Barbados,' Garner says. 'It is one of the nicest places that you would ever travel to and have fun. You will understand why.'
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On Hazlewood's next ball, debutant Brandon King (0) caught a high inside edge to Cameron Green, who made up for dropping a sitter by leaping high at gully. Captain Roston Chase (2) could not replicate a solid first innings, caught from by Sam Konstas at short leg, before Hazlewood bowled the established batter Carty with a ball that seamed in on the tricky pitch. Axed from the XI, Marnus Labuschagne made a valuable contribution as a substitute fielder, whipping a direct hit at the stumps from the other end of the wicket to run Alzarri Joseph (0) out. Hazlewood completed his 13th Test "five-fer" when Jomel Warrican (3) edged to Carey the ball after surviving an lbw review. The end appeared nigh for West Indies when unlikely top-scorer Joseph edged Lyon to Usman Khawaja in the slips. Earlier, No.5 Head (61 off 95 balls) ignited Australia's fightback after the tourists went to stumps on day two in a precarious position at 4-92. 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