HARARE, Zimbabwe, CMC – West Indies captain Jason Holder has refused to be drawn on the issue of the absence of DRS in the ICC World Cup Qualifiers here.
The topic became a huge talking point after Richie Berrington was the unfortunate victim of an umpiring blunder as Scotland went down by five runs to West Indies under Duckworth-Lewis-Stern, to miss out on qualification for next year’s World Cup in England.
With no option to review, the wicket swung the DLS calculation in the Windies favour and when thunderstorms arrived four overs later, the Scots were short of the required par score of 130.
“That’s beyond my control. I think it’s a question for the ICC,” said Holder, when asked about the issue.
“At the beginning of the tournament, they set up the rules, and those are the rules we played with. It’s cricket. Sometimes it goes for you, sometimes it goes against you.”
Television coverage of the qualifiers was limited, with only 10 ten matches broadcast – two in the preliminaries involving West Indies fixtures against Ireland and the Netherlands and seven in the Super Six second stage, along with the final.
Scotland captain Kyle Coetzer blasted the ICC’s decision not to utilise DRS but Holder said there needed to be consistency.
“A lot of the games weren’t televised. So if you’re being consistent, if it wasn’t there at the beginning, you stick by it,” the all-rounder asserted.
West Indies suffered just one defeat in the entire tournament – to Afghanistan in their opening Super Six fixture – as they topped the table at the end of the second stage.
Following the defeat, they produced a pair of gutsy performances, firstly to complete their fifth highest successful chase in one-dayers to beat hosts Zimbabwe and then to strangle Scotland after posting a mere 198.
Holder, who also oversaw West Indies’ outing at the last World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, said the achievement compensated for the difficult times the team had endured in recent years.
“We have been through a lot. We were bruised, we have been hurt and we have copped a lot of criticism in the past couple of years,” Holder pointed out.
“To come into this competition, where there was so much pressure and to produce the cricket we have to qualify for the World Cup is pleasing.
“I have been very anxious, and nervous. It has been the general feeling around the whole team. One thing is that we came together for the whole tournament, that was the determining factor, we wanted the same result and we were fighting for the same cause.”
Holder has had a successful tournament, leading his side in both runs and wickets, and also displaying outstanding leadership.
The Barbadian said, however, praised the collective team effort throughout the campaign.
“It is a great achievement to qualify for the Cricket World Cup, I pride myself on leading from the front and all the other guys have backed me up,” he stressed.
“The people in the West Indies should be really proud of us to qualify for the World Cup.
“It is the first time we have played in the Cricket World Cup Qualifier. To handle ourselves the way we did was really pleasing, I am sure everyone back home is smiling.”
West Indies face Afghanistan in tomorrow’s final.
