West Indies' Jason Holder hoping Dominica debut pays dividends

Roseau (Dominica), June 1: All-rounder Jason Holder is hoping his first game of competitive cricket in Dominica turns out favourably for the West Indies when they clash with Australia in the opening Test at Windsor Park starting on Wednesday.

The 23-year-old set foot on the Nature Isle for the first time on Saturday when the West Indies arrived to begin their final preparations, reports CMC.

And despite not having played a single first class game here, Holder said he was looking forward to the experience and also hoping the West Indies could get a positive result.

"We’ve had a good week in Barbados of preparation and we're here just raring to go," Holder said here on Sunday.

"This is actually my first time to Dominica so I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve heard a lot of things before and obviously seen the last Test match when Australia played the West Indies here so hopefully it is a little better than our last time in terms of the pitch and we get a good game.”

The West Indies have a mixed record at Windsor Park. In the first ever Test here four years ago, they drew with India and then lost by 75 runs to Australia in 2012. A year later, they crushed Zimbabwe by an innings and 65 runs.

Holder, who comes into the series on the back of impressive form in the recent three-Test series against England, was suspicious about the pitch but said he hoped it shaped up well as a decent wicket.

“We had a look at the wicket. It seems a little bit slow. Hopefully over the next week of cricket it dries out a bit and hopefully we get a good Test match wicket.”

The West Indies are confident especially coming off a 1-1 draw in the recent series against England. They drew the first game in Antigua, lost the second in Grenada by nine wickets but rebounded to capture the third Test in Barbados by five wickets.

Holder now feels they can use this momentum to seriously challenge the number two side in world cricket.

"We’ve taken a lot from it (series result against England). Obviously we did pretty well to come back and draw the series and we're just looking to keep that momentum going in that series," he explained.

“We did a lot of good things in that series and we’re just looking to continue on in that rich vein and compete well with the Australians.”

IANS