West Indies skipper, Jason Holder is anticipating a keenly contested first Test against England and reckons it will be an uphill battle when the first ball bowls at 06.00 hours today.
Speaking to the media during a virtual press conference yesterday, the captain described the hosts as a formidable side at home with a never-say-die attitude.
That attitude, he said, makes the task to win the Wisden Trophy in England for the first time since 1988 much more difficult.
Holder said that he was not one to dwell on the history of the results and declared, “I think cricket has to be played on the day.
“I would say is England are probably favourite in their home conditions,” he said adding that their track record at home also bears that out.
“We have our work cut out if we are going to beat England. England is not going to just roll over and die. They are going to come at us very, very hard and those guys really want to win as bad as we do,” he said.
“So I really expect a keen contest and it’s a matter of us to dethrone England in their back yard which is not going to be easy for us,” he added.
With the bowling department of both sides taking the spotlight ahead of the series, Holder described England’s line up as a “balanced” side. However, he stressed that his troops, based on current form were “solid.”
The West Indies captain highlighted the impact Stuart Broad and James Anderson, who have 1096 Test wickets and 289 Test matches between them, would have, especially on home soil.
“If you look at stats you’ll probably say England. Broad and Anderson have a bulk of experience and a bulk of wickets between themselves, Ben Stokes have had his success. I guess those are the confirmed three and if they go for a fourth seamer it would be a toss-up between Jofra [Archer] and Chris Woakes who both have done equally as well for England and maybe Mark Wood who had a good start to his career as well so they’ve got a good balance,” Holder stated.
He said that the Caribbean seamers compared favourably with England’s.
“If you look on recent form, our bowling attack is right up there too, Shannon [Gabriel], Kemar [Roach], myself and even Alzarri [Joseph], I think Alzarri has really come into his own over the last couple of seasons and then we’ve got Chemar Holder on the bench who is a young guy who had a really good First-Class season, played some A team and had some success as well.”
Looking at the batting department, the captain pointed out that there is experience and quality in this area with a number of batsmen finding success in English conditions before.
“If you look at the top order, Kraigg Brathwaite has had success in England, Shai Hope has had success in England, Shamarh Brooks has had success in England in A team tours and that’s just to name a few.
“I’m more than confident these guys will do well in this series, I think they worked really hard over the last couple of weeks. I’m not at all worried about who contributes to us.”
While the absence of Shimron Hetmyer and Darren Bravo has forced management to look for middle-order replacements, Holder pointed out that the team had not yet been finalized.
He, however, said that he has personal aspirations of batting higher up the order.
He also played down suggestions that himself and Shane Dowrich, their second highest-ranked batsman have niggles.
“It’s always on the radar for me personally. As you said I’ve had some success and been pretty consistent as well no doubt at some stage I will definitely come up the order it’s just a matter of when… I’m feeling good, I’m feeling good mentally and that’s the most important thing and I’m looking forward to getting into the game tomorrow.”
The 28-year-old is West Indies’ highest ranked batsman with an average of 32.72, only behind Brathwaite and Brooks.
West Indies Squad: Jason Holder, Jermaine Blackwood, Kraigg Brathwaite, Shannon Gabriel, Kemar Roach, Shai Hope, Alzarri Joseph, Shane Dowrich, Roston Chase, Rahkeem Cornwall, Nkrumah Bonner, Chemar Holder, John Campbell and Shamarh Brooks
England Squad: Ben Stokes (captain), James Anderson, Jofra Archer, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler (W/k), Zak Crawley, Joe Denly, Ollie Pope, Dom Sibley, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.
