Holder off to UK for county stint

● West Indies skipper Jason Holder will join Northamptonshire for the start of the county season to give the all-rounder a chance to get used to conditions ahead of this year’s World Cup in England and Wales.

Holder will be available for Northamptonshire’s opening two county championship matches in April against Middlesex and Glamorgan as well as six One-Day Cup games.

“England is somewhere I’ve wanted to play for a long time and I’m looking forward to the experience of county cricket and testing myself in different conditions,” Holder, the world’s top-ranked Test all-rounder, said in a statement.

Holder’s move is subject to a no-objection certificate being issued by Cricket West Indies as they look to safeguard one of their main players before the 50-over World Cup starting in May. Holder has helped West Indies take a 2-0 lead in their ongoing threematch series against England, scoring an unbeaten 202 in the opening Test and claiming a total of seven wickets. — Reuters