Look in the mirror, Holder tells team
birmingham — West Indies captain Jason Holder challenged his side to “look themselves in the mirror” after they suffered an innings and 209-run thrashing by England in the first Test at Edgbaston.
The inaugural day/night Test in Britain was all over on Saturday’s third day. “It’s been a tough few days — we were disappointing in this Test match. We lacked consistency when we bowled and we didn’t put up any runs,” Holder told reporters.
“We got beaten in three days and just weren’t up to scratch.”
Few had given the West Indies much chance ahead of the threematch series but even their sternest critics might have paused before suggesting they would lose 19 wickets in a day.
Yet that is exactly what happened on Saturday, with the West Indies, who started the day at 44 for one, were shot out for 168 and 137 after being made to follow on.
“We have to regroup — it’s only one Test, and we can’t drop our heads down,” said Holder.
“The series is not lost... I have
We have to regroup — it’s only one Test, and we can’t drop our heads down Jason Holder
to believe, (because) every team is beatable. (But) each player has to look themselves in the mirror and see where they can improve.”
West Indies’ problems in Test cricket away from home are nothing new. Since 1997, excluding matches against the often struggling Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, they have won just three out of 87 Tests beyond the Caribbean, losing 67 and drawing 17.
It is a sad statistic for a side that were Test cricket’s dominant force during the 1970s and 1980s.
The current squad arrived in England without the experienced Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Bravo and Darren Sammy — the legacy of both a dispute with West Indies cricket chiefs and the competing attractions of the lucrative Caribbean Premier League Twenty20. —