[6][7] Joseph is from Baracara, a small community in East Berbice-Corentyne, Guyana,[8][9] about 225 km up the Canje River and two days by boat from the port city of New Amsterdam.
[10] He idolised Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh, opening bowlers for the West Indies cricket team, watching their highlights and imitating them in his tape ball games around the village.
[11][14] Following an incident in which a falling tree nearly hit him, Joseph decided to move away from Baracara, and relocated to New Amsterdam seeking work to support his family.
[11] His job as a security guard required him to work long, 12-hour shifts,[15] across day and night, leaving little scope for cricketing endeavours.
[24][25] He took his first career five-wicket haul in first-class cricket against Windward Islands during the 2022–23 West Indies Championship and ended with figures of 5/41 in a spell bowling 12 overs.
[26][27] He was initially brought in as a net bowler by the Guyana Amazon Warriors for the 2023 Caribbean Premier League and made the 2023 squad as an injury replacement for Keemo Paul.
[28] During his maiden CPL stint, he met Prasanna Agoram, the talent scout for Guyana Amazon Warriors, who encouraged Joseph to take his cricket career seriously.
[32] Although he only played 2 matches in his 2023 maiden CPL Guyana Amazon Warriors stint, Joseph was remarkable in his ability to deliver short-pitched deliveries at speeds exceeding 140 kph consistently.
[10][15] In January 2024, Joseph was picked by Peshawar Zalmi during the 2024 Pakistan Super League players draft as a partial replacement for Gus Atkinson.
[38][39] In February 2024, he was picked by Lucknow Super Giants for INR 3 crores as a replacement for Mark Wood ahead of the 2024 Indian Premier League.
[53][54][55] He also became only the second West Indies bowler to have taken a wicket off the first delivery bowled in test cricket after Tyrell Johnson when he drew Smith to edge it to Justin Greaves.
[69][70] Joseph took the final wicket of the match by dismissing Hazlewood to complete a historic test victory and it sparked some joy to commentators including the likes of Ian Bishop who was quoted saying "A real dream come true for 'Joseph the Deliverer', for the West Indies.
[74][75] In February 2024, Cricket West Indies officially confirmed an international retainer contract to Shamar Joseph following his performances against Australia in the test series.