Jason Holder knows only too well where to lay the blame for the West Indies’ first test defeat by South Africa.
At the feet of the batsmen, himself included.
“We just didn’t bat well and I don’t think it has anything to do with the conditions. Whether we batted first or second we just didn’t bat well,” he said at a Zoom press conference yesterday.
The West Indies lost the first Test by an innings and 63 runs, mainly due to what has been admitted by captain, Kraigg Brathwaite and head coach, Phil Simmons as a batting failure.
The 29-year-old Holder, who is the highest ranked West Indian batsman at 38th, said that a lot of the dismissals were due to indecisive shot selection.
“We look at the performances of the individuals who would have batted on the pitch, a lot of them were just indecision. I just think it’s a situation where we got to be a little bit more decisive on what we want to play and what we want to leave,” Holder said.
Roston Chase top scored with 62 for West Indies in the second innings of the first test but no other batsman passed Holder’s first innings score of 20 as the South African pacers blew away the Caribbean side for 97 and 162.
Holder did, however, point to a bit of inexperience in the batting lineup and called for a bit of patience.
While the batting line up did not perform as many would have hoped with West Indies coming into the contest without losing their last four matches, Holder reckoned that the batting order was still relatively inexperienced with most of them not yet playing in 10 Tests.
He said, “We have a relatively inexperienced batting line up. You’ve got Bonner who is into his fourth [fifth] Test match, similarly to [Kyle] Mayers, Joshua Da Silva with five [six] so we got majority of our top order there relatively inexperienced.”
Brathwaite, the skipper, is the most experienced batsman in the side with 69 Tests while Holder, the number one ranked test all-rounder in the world, is second with 48 Tests. Chase and Jermaine Blackwood have both featured in 38 Tests.
“All these things add up to the grand scheme of things. We’ve just got to be a little more patient when it comes to this batting line up. We’ve seen what they can produce, we’ve seen their performances in the recent past,” he noted.
Bonner and Mayers both average over 50 while Da Silva averages 31. Brathwaite averages 33, Holder averages 32 and Blackwood averages 30.
Holder, in response to a question said that he is willing to do whatever is required of him by the team even if it means moving up the order after traditionally batting at six, seven or eight but factored in his bowling workload.
The all-rounder has scored two of this three centuries batting at number eight including his double ton while the other was scored batting at number nine. He has played one innings at number five where he made 71 not out. The Bajan right hander has a healthy average of 33 batting at number six whereas at number seven he has scored four half centuries but averages 27.59, his lowest per batting position.
“If it is a situation where I am required to come up a little higher then I’ll put up my hand and do it,” Holder stated while reasoning, “I just think the hardest thing to do is bowl the amount of overs I bowl and then having to come immediately afterwards and bat so we will see how it goes again I think Kraigg and Simmo [Phil Simmons] will have their plans and if it’s I have to come up and bat higher then so be it.”
Holder is also the West Indies’ highest ranked bowler, sitting at number eight with 127 wickets, highlighted by eight five-wicket hauls and one 10-wicket haul. He was the Caribbean side’s most effective bowler, taking 4-75 in the first Test.
