Mitchell Johnson: Curtly Ambrose showed pride and power for the West Indies. Could Shamar Joseph do the same?

I grew up watching and loving the West Indies play cricket.

That big back lift, the shuffle across the crease and the free-flowing strokes of the prince, Brian Charles Lara. I even think his batting technique rubbed off on me – if only his runs had rubbed off on me as well!

But it was the West Indian bowlers I enjoyed the most and in particular Curtly Ambrose.

I was watching a one-dayer at my best mate’s house in the mid-1990s and remember seeing the massive 6ft7in Ambrose steaming in against the Aussies.

Ambrose would bowl thunderbolt after thunderbolt and to top it off was seeing his stare at the batsmen. I absolutely loved that.

He was a great character of the game who always wanted to fight and win for his country.

Modern-day West Indies teams live in the shadow of the great ones of the past. I’m sure the pressure of that proud history makes it tough.

We would all love to see a fearsome West Indies outfit taking it up to Australia this summer. The Windies are saying the right things and that’s a start, but they need to do it with actions.

And unfortunately, the action in the first Test at Adelaide Oval lasted less than two days and one session.

Key players, including Jason Holder, Kyle Mayers and Nicholas Pooran, have turned down central contracts to focus on the Twenty20 circuit.

But they still have some very good players to be able to compete, albeit with a lack of experience.

This was the issue coming into this series and it will only widen the gulf between the ‘big three’ of India, England and Australia and the rest, who don’t have a financial incentive to play red-ball cricket.

Tours in consecutive summers meant some of the players had previous Test experience in Australia, including Kraigg Brathwaite, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Joshua Da Silva, Alzarri Joseph and Kemar Roach, and you really need those guys to have an impact on the game.

The openers need to resist and soften the blow of an experienced Australian attack to take some of that pressure off the inexperienced batting line-up that follows. It’s not easy.

The standout was debutant Shamar Joseph. What a story! I think we have all heard about his remarkable background and taking a punt on cricket.

What I loved about Joseph was his clear enjoyment of Test cricket and the passion he has for the game. He showed that young players coming through still want to earn the baggy maroon and the right to play for their country.

His interview after day one was just great to listen to, hearing the passion and joy he brought to playing for his country and how he wanted to be a part of what seems to be a very committed group of professional cricketers.

For Joseph to come in on debut - after none of the development opportunities he would have received from a young age if he was Australian - and take five wickets against the best team in the world shows that the raw talent is still there.

I don’t think you can ward off the lucrative appeal of T20 competitions around the world as every cricketer has their own path. But players playing for their country need to be looked after financially if Test cricket is to survive and thrive.

When the Indian Premier League started, we saw plenty of West Indies players who went off to get paid as they weren’t being paid much to play for their country.

The ICC – and yes, that means the big three – must figure out how to keep Test cricket and keep the standard high. It’s not going to be any fun if they’re left to play only among each other.

Make sure players are being financially supported. We know it’s not going to be the big payday like in the IPL, but when you have young players around the world wanting to represent their country at Test level, that will help the game grow for the better.

When you have young players around the world wanting to represent their country at Test level, that will help the game grow for the better.

I’m sure India, England and Australia will help look after the poorer nations financially. The systems in these other countries also need to be in order so that the funding gets to the right places to grow the game and get better facilities and coaching. This is where the ICC needs to step up and make an impact.

All formats now rely on each other to an extent. We need Test cricket to be strong as the fundamentals and basics are all learned through the longest form of the game.