By Delvon Mc Ewan
Former Guyana and West Indies players Roger Harper and Colin Stuart have weighed in on the selection of Jason Holder as the captain of the West Indies One Day International team.
According to Harper, a former West Indies vice-captain, the move was a surprise.
“It was a surprise selection as well as an interesting move,” said Harper.
“However, he is a young player and best wishes go out to him,” he added.
According to Harper, who in his heyday was one of the finest fielders in the sport, if the intention is to groom a new captain to lead the side at next year’s World Cup, then he has a short period to prepare and gain experience and also to get the troops behind him.
Stuart, one of the fastest bowlers Guyana has produced and a former Territorial Officer of the Guyana Cricket Board, said the selectors had to see leadership qualities in the 23-year-old and one of those would be his ability to unite the team towards a common goal.
He added that the team has lots of talent but it’s just that they need to play as a unit to see success.
Stuart and Harper are the latest in a lone line of other former West Indies players who have aired their opinions on the decision made more than a week ago by the West Indies selectors to replace Dwayne Bravo with Holder as skipper of the West Indies ODI team. Holder will lead the team in the five-match ODI series against South Africa which starts January 16, 2015.
According to a WICB release, Holder’s selection was recommended by the Clive Lloyd-led selection panel and was approved by the board of directors. The former ‘Test’ captain Lloyd said Holder’s appointment had been made with an eye to the future.
“Jason is one of the good, young players who we believe will form part of the long-term future of West Indies Cricket,” Lloyd said. “We expect him to be around for a very long time. He is a young man with a very bright future. We have invested in him. He was part of High Performance Centre and he also played for the West Indies Under-19 Team and the West Indies ‘A’ Team.
