Jason Holder, West Indies’ captain, says that his team should prepare to embrace the “new normal” after touching down in England to embark on a historic Test series, but admits that the shift in global a story, from the Covid-19 pandemic to the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests, could help to galvanise his squad in such strange circumstances.
Speaking after West Indies’ arrival at Emirates Old Trafford, where the squad will train in isolation for the next three weeks before decamping to Southampton for the first Test on July 8, Holder acknowledged that he and his team-mates felt “pretty protected” after a smooth transfer from Manchester Airport on Tuesday morning, adding that he used to be relishing the possibility to receive back to playing cricket after months of being “sat at home doing nothing”.
Alternatively, the tour’s status as a global event has escalated in the wake of the killing of George Floyd in the US, and surge of protests in give a boost to of the BLM movement, and at Holder’s arrival press convention, the lines of questioning veered between provisions for playing cricket in the middle of a pandemic, and responses to issues of racism in cricket, including those voiced this week by West Indies’ former captain, Daren Sammy.
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“It is not going to be a normal bilateral series here in England,” said Holder. “But at the end of the day this is where we are with the state of world cricket – the state of the world, per se. No doubt it is going to be different. But we just have to receive on with it and take a look at to benefit from the circumstances in these trying times.”
West Indies arrive in England as holders of the Wisden Trophy, after a thrilling 2-1 series win in the Caribbean final year, in which Holder himself excelled with a double-century in Barbados. And though he insisted that England would be favourites this time around, he acknowledged that the challenge of beating the hosts in their own conditions, and at this moment in time, might supply “additional motivation”.
“West Indians are fuelled and motivated in different ways,” said Holder. “In preceding series, especially against England, people have said things prior to the series beginning, and that has fuelled a large number of things inside us as West Indians.
“Who knows, this could be something serious we could build on and we could get some real positive energy through the group. Only after we sit down down and discuss and get a common sense of where everybody’s brain is at, will we then formulate our plans.
When asked whether West Indies would sign up for the BLM protests all through the Tests, maybe by taking a knee in the manner of the NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, Holder insisted that he could not speak on behalf of his team-mates until they had made up our minds as a squad how to reply.
“As a group we have to sit down down and have our discussions,” Holder said. “I don’t wish to speak out of context or on behalf of other players. We have different races inside our group too. This is a touchy time where we’ve got to keep in mind of everything.”
Holder and the West Indies squad arrived at Manchester on Tuesday morning Getty Images for ECB
“[Racism] is a crime during all the world and something that it will be an ongoing discussion way past our lifetimes,” he added. “I think the greater message that may be brought from all the experience is unity. I think without reference to race, your type, religion, this can be a situation for all of us to unite as one.
“What has happened recently world wide has impacted the world and the response from people world wide has been tremendous. At the end of the day, you should acknowledge it and protesting or standing up for what you imagine is seen as noble and brave and something I myself would never sit down and disapprove of.
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“For me, the greatest object at the end of the day is unity. We should all come together, there should be equality across the world. It is usually a massive ongoing debate but equality and unity is the main object I would pick up from this.
“We had a brief discussion around it earlier and a large number of things around it come from education as mannered so I think it is a perfect time for people to educate themselves approximately what goes on in other peoples’ experiences of the world. Only then are you able to have a better sense of what’s going on around you. To be sincere, a large number of people live and not realize precisely what goes on around them and this is the very best time to educate yourselves around it and make a change.”
Holder added that he had not personally experienced racist abuse in cricket, but acknowledged recent incidents involving Moeen Ali – who used to be labelled “Osama” by an Australian fielder all through the 2015 Ashes – and Jofra Archer, who called out a spectator at Mount Maunganui all through final winter’s tour of New Zealand, in addition to the case of his former team-mate Sammy, who used to be dismayed to discover he had been labelled with a racist nickname all through his time at Sunrisers Hyderabad.
“I would be silly to sit down here and say that racism isn’t prevalent in our sport,” Holder said. “I haven’t followed all of what Sammy has said but in relation to racism in general it is definitely all around us. For me the only solution is finding unity and equality in all races.
“I just want equality to excel – to receive everyone on the same page. So we will have less fighting, less killing, less adversity in society. For me that’s the main message I wish to contribute.”