ST JOHN’S, Antigua (CMC) — Cricket West Indies (CWI) has rewarded Shamar Joseph with an international retainer contract after his fairy-tale debut during the recent two Tests against hosts and world champions, Australia.

The 24-year-old from the remote village of Baracara in Guyana arrived Down Under as part of an inexperienced squad for the Caribbean side and made an instant impact to claim the Player-of-the-Series award.

He grabbed five wickets in a losing cause on his debut in the first Test at Adelaide before he grabbed world attention with a destructive spell in the second Test at Brisbane and helped Kraigg Brathwaite’s side pull off an unlikely, eight-run win to level the series 1-1 on the penultimate day.

Joseph broke the Test open when he defied a toe-crushing yorker from Australia left-arm fast fowler Mitchell Starc the day before and took seven for 68 in an incredible spell to carry West Indies to their first Test win in Australia for 27 years.

“As exhilarated as we are, it is also dutiful to elevate Shamar Joseph to a CWI international retainer contract,” CWI director and chairman of its cricket development and performance committee, Enoch Lewis, said.

“His extraordinary talent and steadfast dedication served as the cornerstone of our team’s recent triumph at the Gabba, and such promise merits its due recognition. Shamar has not just been rewarded with a retainer contract; he has earned it.”

Joseph is one of only seven members of the Test squad that visited Australia that have been included on the 15-member list of contractees.

The others are Test Captain Brathwaite, his deputy Alzarri Joseph, long-serving pacer Kemar Roach, opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul, left-handed batsman Alick Athanaze, wicketkeeper-batsman Joshua Da Silva, and left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie.

Injured fast bowler Jayden Seales, who missed the tour of Australia, was also named among the group of contracted players, the rest of whom are regular members of the two white-ball squads headed by the respective captains, Shai Hope and Rovman Powell.

CWI also announced former West Indies Under-19 pacer Chemar Holder had been awarded a franchise contract for the coming year as he continues his recovery from a career-threatening shoulder injury that sidelined him for the past three years.

“We have also offered Chemar Holder a franchise contract as we double down on securing the best fast-bowling talent available,” CWI director of cricket, Miles Bascombe said.

“Meanwhile, we will continue to support Chemar Holder who returned from injury rehabilitation and has shown signs of eagerness to be reintegrated at the highest level.”