New Delhi, March 03: Jason Holder has called on West Indies to make his life as captain easier amid a “clean slate” for the team.
West Indies host England in a three-match one-day international series, which begins on Friday in Antigua, and serves as the first challenge for new coach Stuart Law, who replaced Phil Simmons in January.
A host of West Indies stars, including the likes of Chris Gayle, Lendl Simmons and Marlon Samuels, are missing from the ODI squad – that trio all having starred in the ICC World Twenty20 triumph last year.
The absence of many of the big names is largely down to a spat with Cricket West Indies – which new director of cricket Jimmy Adams is working to fix.
And Holder, who insists he is happy with the team he has at his disposal for the series, believes the arrival of Law and Adams gives the Windies a fresh start.
Holder said: “It feels as though it’s a clean slate, we’ve got quite a few changes in our administrative part, it’s just a situation for us players to adapt to it, get accustomed to the new coach, new director of cricket. It’s important for us just to deal with cricket, that’s the only thing we can control.
“Our main thing is to be more consistent than we have been in the past, I think once we do that we can be moving in the right direction.”
Holder is also the Test captain but is enjoying the strain of being the skipper in two formats, saying of his tenure: “It’s been interesting, I’ve enjoyed it, it’s been tough. If I didn’t enjoy it, I probably wouldn’t be doing it.
“I feel as though I’m probably the right person to do it, I’ve been supported well by my team-mates and once we continue to be consistent as a side it will make my job a lot easier.”
The Windies did not qualify for the Champions Trophy in June, but Holder thinks their absence could actually aid the side’s development.
“We’re not in the Champions Trophy, it gives us more time to reflect, more time to get things in order moving forward, we look obviously towards the World Cup,” he added.
“We need to qualify for the World Cup and it’s our goal to qualify for the World Cup, we have to take it stage by stage, our first engagement is England.”
