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“We’re trying to get closer as a unit, trying to develop something here that could be special eventually”

Deivarayan Muthu23-Jul-2022West Indies came to within touching distance of hunting down what could’ve been the highest successful ODI chase at the Queen’s Park Oval, but with the hosts needing five off the last ball, Mohammed Siraj nailed his yorker and kept them to just a bye. However, West Indies’ fighting effort roused the Port of Spain crowd and captain Nicholas Pooran so much that he felt that the result was “like a win” for his side, especially after their crushing 3-0 defeat at the hands of Bangladesh at the Providence earlier this month.”It definitely feels like a win for us,” Pooran told the host broadcaster at the post-match presentation. “Bitter-sweet [one], but yes we keep speaking about batting 50 overs and today we batted 50 overs and made 300-plus. It is difficult to lose but we will take this one.Related

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“Obviously, as a group we are rebuilding and trying to figure out ODI cricket and coming up against the top teams in the world. Today, we did justice to our talent and yeah and just looking forward to the other games. Hopefully, we can go from strength to strength.”After Pooran sent India in, Shubman Gill and stand-in captain Shikhar Dhawan ran away to a rapid start, but West Indies’ bowlers varied their pace and lengths on a pitch that slowed down, limiting the visitors to 308 for 7. All up, India managed only 83 for 5 in their last 15 overs as Alzarri Joseph and Jayden Seales regularly took pace off and bowled into the pitch.The two left-arm fingerspinners Akeal Hosein and Gudakesh Motie did their bit in the middle overs, returning combined figures of 20-0-105-3. They could’ve added another wicket to the tally had Motie not dropped Deepak Hooda in the outfield off Hosein in the 39th over.West Indies’ electric fielding, headlined by Pooran’s direct hit from midwicket to run out Gill for 64 off 35 balls, was also vital to them reining India in.”Yeah, definitely I must give credit to the bowlers,” Pooran said. “Obviously, we didn’t get to the best start in these conditions. We understand it was [a] really good batting track, but we did speak at the second water break and said we want to restrict them to 315 and actually to get them to less was commendable.”[Gudakesh] Motie, Akeal [Hosein] and Alzarri [Joseph] – everyone came and executed their skills today. Really proud of the effort today after coming from the Bangladesh series. We spoke about [ticking] different boxes. We ticked three boxes actually: fielding, batting 50 overs and executing at the death.”A target of 309 looked beyond West Indies’ reach at various points, but fifties from a fit-again Kyle Mayers (75) and Brandon King (54) and cameos from Pooran (25), Hosein (32*) and Romario Shepherd (39*) enabled them to drag the chase down to the last ball. Although West Indies just fell short in the end, Pooran insisted that West Indies always had the belief that they could overhaul the target.”Yes definitely [had the belief], we need to believe in each other and not only in ourselves,” Pooran said. “We’re trying to get closer as a unit, trying to develop something here that could be special eventually. And I keep telling everyone that this is our story and this is our journey and it’s going to have a lot of challenges. But I’m just happy that we’re going forward in the right direction.”When legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal got rid of King and Rovman Powell with wide, loopy legbreaks, India might have felt like they had all but wrapped up the game. However, Hosein, who was primarily a middle-order batter than a bowler during his Under-19 days, and Shepherd, who was only drafted into the squad after Jason Holder tested positive for Covid-19, sprung a surprise on India, with an unbroken 53-run stand for the seventh wicket off 33 balls.”Yes, there were some nerves,” Dhawan said at the post-match presentation. “Yes, we were in quite a good position and nobody expected that the game will turn that way and the [West Indies] batsmen played really well. We kept our cool and we knew what to do and [made] one little change when we put a fine leg back after two-three boundaries went [through that region. We were happy about that.”

Peter George picked up three wickets as Tasmania slumped from 1 for 188 to 4 for 195 before ending the day at 5 for 257

The Report by Alex Malcolm16-Oct-2018Alex Doolan scored his tenth first-class hundred•Getty Images

Australia coach Justin Langer asked for more centuries in the Sheffield Shield this season and veteran Tasmania batsman Alex Doolan provided the first on a tightly contested opening day against Queensland at the Gabba.Doolan made his tenth first-class hundred on a day when scoring was not free-flowing. He struck 17 fours and two sixes in his 193-ball 115.He put together a 54-run opening partnership with Jordan Silk and a 134-run stand for the second wicket with Beau Webster, who made 43. But Queensland’s seamers stuck to their task and pulled things back late in the day.One-time Test bowler Peter George was the pick of the bowlers, removing both Silk and Doolan caught behind. He also bowled Jake Doran cheaply with a full-toss as Tasmania slumped from 1 for 188 to 4 for 195 in the space of 34 balls.Both George and Luke Feldman were miserly, conceding just 91 in a combined 46.4 overs, and Feldman removed Tasmania’s captain George Bailey late in the day.Bad light stopped play just before the scheduled close. Matthew Wade was batting on 37 and Simon Milenko on 9. They will hope to build again early on day two.

A third-wicket stand between Riki Wessels and Mahmudullah, and four wickets from Shafiul Islam led Khulna Titans to a 22-run win against Barisal Bulls

The Report by Mohammad Isam20-Nov-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMahmudullah’s 44 off 26 balls set up a respectable total for Khulna Titans•Raton Gomes/BCB

Khulna Titans climbed to the top of the BPL points table after a 22-run win over Barisal Bulls. As was the case in their four previous wins, it was their bowlers who made their moderate total look very competitive.Shafiul Islam led the five-man bowling attack to defend their 151 runs comfortably. The paceman took four wickets while Junaid Khan and Mosharraf Hossain took two each as Barisal capitulated for 129 in 19.3 overs.Barisal’s chase was always going to be interesting as they had a batting line-up to compete with Khulna’s discipline. Jeevan Mendis, promoted to open the innings, struck four fours on his way to 21 before falling to Shafiul in the fourth over. His opening partner Fazle Mahmud was earlier trapped lbw for a duck in the second over.After Shamsur Rahman was caught at long-on cheaply, Barisal’s main batsmen Shahriar Nafees and Mushfiqur Rahim added 43 runs for the fourth wicket. Nafees batted at a slower pace, hitting two fours in his 28 off 35 balls. Mushfiqur held the chase together till the 16th over before he top-edged a pull after making 35 off 23 balls with four fours. Thisara Perera’s failure with the bat made it harder for Barisal who folded in the last four overs of their chase.After they had decided to bowl, Barisal were given early breakthroughs by Taijul Islam who struck twice in the fifth over to remove the Khulna openers Hasanuzzaman and Andre Fletcher. Both batsmen holed out to Abu Hider at long-on.Mahmudullah ensured that they recovered from an ordinary Powerplay, adding 53 for the third wicket with Riki Wessels. He slammed three sixes through long-on and two fours in his 26-ball 44, before becoming Taijul’s third victim, caught at point. Next ball, Shuvagata Hom was run-out after a mix-up with Wessels with both batsmen ending at the non-striker’s end.Wessels, who had contributed just five runs to the third-wicket stand, found a higher gear as he struck four fours and a six over long-on in his 29-ball 40. Like Mahmudullah, Wessels’ wicket also hurt Khulna, who added 39 runs in the last five overs.

England’s motivation for this summer is to claim the Test series wins against Sri Lanka and Pakistan that eluded them in their last campaigns against each team

Andrew Miller22-Apr-2016You’d have thought that Ben Stokes would be sick of the sight of batsmen teeing off after the agonies he endured at the hands of Carlos Brathwaite in the World T20 final in Kolkata earlier this month.And yet, after spending the morning in the company of Joe Root at Woburn Golf Course in Buckinghamshire, it is safe to surmise that Stokes – and the rest of the England team – have parked that near-miss in India and are ready to take the positives (as only sportsmen can) into their next international assignment: the Test series against Sri Lanka that gets underway next month.”I’d been back in the country for about eight or nine days before I realised I wanted to get back to training,” said Stokes, whose hectic round of sponsors’ engagements in recent days – from a game of street cricket in Soho to a bout of WWE in Newcastle and now to an Investec golf day – reflects the extent to which his and England’s exploits, in victory and defeat, have captured the imagination this winter.Though the winter ended in a manner that Stokes will not wish to dwell on for too much longer – with his head in his hands and Brathwaite’s fourth six in a row disappearing into the Eden Gardens stands – England’s shortcomings in that contest cannot detract from the sense that a real team ethic has been forged in the course of 18 extraordinary months.”The amount of people who’ve said how excited they were by the World Cup, and how we should be proud of what we achieved, it was a lot more than I thought it would be,” said Root. “That is really nice to see. That puts a smile on your face and gives us a lot of confidence.”The squads vary from format to format, and the captains too, with Alastair Cook and Eoin Morgan taking charge of red- and white-ball cricket respectively. However, Stokes and Root have been integral players throughout, from England’s reboot in limited-overs cricket to their hard-earned Test series wins against Australia and South Africa. Root in particular believes that the confidence forged in one format can be carried across to the others.”It’s a completely different playing XI, but we are implementing how we want to play in all three formats,” he said. “Cooky has been like Morgs in reminding us that we got here by playing in this way for our counties and through the last 18 months, so let’s keep trying to push that. We don’t want to get to a certain level and stop, we want to keep trying to improve and play positive and aggressive cricket.”Teeing off: Stokes prepares to unleash at Woburn•Investec

“In one-day cricket, I think perceptions have been changed for a while now,” he added. “We’ve said previously we’ve got inexperience and we are going to make mistakes, but we want to play a certain way and everyone’s committed to doing that.”We won’t get it right every time, but the more we do that, we’ll get better and better, and we’ll learn along the way, both from getting it right and getting it wrong. Hopefully throughout this summer we’ll get more consistent and become a really strong side.”England’s motivation for this summer, said Root, was to claim the Test series wins against Sri Lanka and Pakistan that eluded them in their last campaigns against each team – at home to Sri Lanka in 2014 and in the UAE against Pakistan last winter. That, he added, would complete a clean sweep of the trophies available to England in Test cricket, and help to propel them towards another of their goals – the reclaiming of the No.1 Test ranking that they last held in 2011-12.”Of course, that is obviously a main goal of ours,” he added. “But as with anything, you can look miles ahead and fall miles short, so you have to take it very slowly. If we win both series it would be a huge achievement.”England’s batting line-up for the first Test against Sri Lanka, at Headingley on May 19, may be significantly altered from the team that was beaten in the fourth and final Test against South Africa at Centurion in January. Not only are they now looking for a replacement for James Taylor, who was sadly forced to retire last week with a serious heart condition, there is talk of Root – the best batsman in the team – being pushed up the order to No. 3, from where he will be better placed to influence the course of an innings.”Who knows?” said Root, who averages more than 65 at positions 4 and 5, from where he has scored eight of his nine Test hundreds. “There have been lots of runs scored in the County Championship so far, but I’ve not had any conversations with the coaches yet about batting orders. I feel pretty settled at 4 but if they want to change things up, I’m sure we’ll have a discussion and see what’s best for the side.”One man who would prefer Root to stay exactly where he is, however, is Stokes, who has played some of his finest innings alongside his team-mate at four-down – not least their game-changing stand of 161 in the Lord’s Test against New Zealand last summer.”His record at 4 and 5 has been incredible,” said Stokes. “I’d personally like him to stay at 4 as he’s been so successful. When we’ve got off to bad starts, he’s come in and still kept the run-rate going, and also it would mean he’s closer to where I’m batting, and I enjoy batting with him.”The reason for their success as a partnership, Stokes added, was their shared sense of enjoyment and relaxation in the heat of the battle.”Some players are very keen and switched on when they are batting in the middle,” he said. “That is them. They stay with themselves in their own bubble, and you know that and respect that, you let them do what they want.”But me and Joe are very similar in the middle – having a laugh, not taking things too seriously, letting things go on. It lets us both play our natural games, which we want to do anyway, but it almost frees us up even more. I know Rooty scores quick, he knows I score quickly. We don’t put any pressure on each other.”As for Root himself, he finished the World T20 as one of the most talked-about young cricketers in the game, with most commentators agreeing it is a three-way shoot-out between him, India’s Virat Kohli and New Zealand’s Kane Williamson when it comes to identifying the best current batsman in the world.The player himself, however, only has eyes for the team cause. “You hear stuff and it’s nice when people say nice things about you, but it’s about scoring runs, isn’t it?” he said. “It’s not about personal gain. It’s about winning games of cricket and being part of something really special with your team-mates. By contributing runs, hopefully that will bring all that stuff along.”Investec is the title sponsor of Test match cricket in England. For more on Investec private banking, visit investec.co.uk/banking

Australia’s captain William Bosisto, who was in the middle when Jimmy Peirson was Mankaded by Bangladesh’s Soumya Sarkar, said a lesson had been learned from the experience

George Binoy in Townsville19-Aug-2012Australia’s Jimmy Peirson was dismissed between the fourth and fifth deliveries of the 11th over of the chase in the World Cup quarterfinal against Bangladesh. He was ‘Mankaded’ by the bowler Soumya Sarkar: run out after backing up too far before the bowler had entered delivery stride. The Mankad, and one without at least one warning, is perhaps not in the Spirit of Cricket, which is a vast expanse of grey, but it is certainly in the rules of the game, which are more black and white.Defending 171 in a high-stakes game such as a quarter-final, Bangladesh were within their rights to punish Peirson for trying to take an advantage he shouldn’t be taking. These Under-19 cricketers are on the cusp of their careers in professional sport, where no inches are given, and Australia’s captain William Bosisto, who was in the middle when the dismissal occurred, said a lesson had been learned from the experience.”We certainly won’t be getting out like that again,” Bosisto said, after steering Australia to a five-wicket victory with his fourth unbeaten knock in as many innings. “It was obviously disappointing from our perspective but that’s within the laws of the game and I think our boys will learn a lesson from that.”Peirson had been given no warning by Sarkar before the bails were whipped off, according to Bosisto, who then spoke to the Bangladesh captain Anamul Haque to try and resolve the situation in Australia’s favour. Even after the umpires spoke to him, Anamul did not withdraw the appeal and Peirson had to go, leaving Australia on 33 for 4.Stuart Law, Australia’s coach, did not see the Mankad live, and there are no television facilities at Endeavour Park since the matches from the venue are not being broadcast. He said the lesson learned was a valuable one. “It is in the laws of cricket. If you are out of your crease and they decide to uphold the appeal, it is out,” Law said. “You don’t have to give the warning. The guys now realise that they can’t leave their crease before the ball is bowled.”In the aftermath of the Peirson dismissal, the game heated up, with the Australian supporters who’d come to watch voicing their disapproval. Travis Head joined Bosisto with Australia needing 139 and they went on to have a 67-run partnership for the fifth wicket.”To go out there, there was a bit of emotion, which is good,” Head said. “A few of the boys were getting stuck into each other. It was good, hard cricket and it was good to go out on that stage and try and prove my skills I guess. In my own head, I probably went out there and wanted to obviously do it for my team. It gave me a little bit more emotion and ticker I guess, to stay in.”Head made 44 off 49 balls, his pace of scoring reducing pressure, while Bosisto continued accumulating. He ensured the Peirson run-out did not cost Australia the match, and set up a semi-final clash against South Africa on Tuesday.

The security assessment became necessary because of the political turmoil in Bangladesh in July-August

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Sep-2024South Africa’s two-Test series in Bangladesh will be played on schedule, with CSA okaying the tour following a security assessment by its experts. The first Test will be played from October 21-25 in Dhaka, and the second in Chattogram from October 29 to November 2.A CSA statement on Monday said that it had given the tour the go-ahead after “an in-loco inspection” on the part of the board’s operations manager, team security manager, safety and security consultant, and a representative of the South African Cricketers’ Association, who submitted their recommendations to the board after visiting Bangladesh last week.South Africa will reach Dhaka on October 16. The squad for the series is expected later on Monday.

Bangladesh vs South Africa

Oct 21-25: 1st Test, Dhaka
Oct 29 to Nov 2: 2nd Test, Chattogram

South Africa’s concerns about the security situation in Bangladesh were because of the anti-government protests in the country in July-August, which led to the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government, and, later, the women’s T20 World Cup moving out of the country to the UAE.CSA sources had told ESPNcricinfo earlier this month that they had been told the situation in Bangladesh had “settled”, but the tour wouldn’t go on if any risks were identified in the security assessments.South Africa only have six Test matches left in the ongoing World Test Championship cycle. They have already played six games, having won two, lost three, and drawn one. They are currently sixth on the points table, and need to win at least five of their remaining games to have a chance of qualifying for next year’s final at Lord’s. All six of their series in this cycle have been limited to two Tests, as CSA prioritised the launch of the SA20, their domestic T20 franchise competition, and cost-cutting.The last time South Africa and Bangladesh had faced each other in a Test series was in South Africa in March-April 2022. South Africa’s white-ball squads are currently in the UAE to take on Ireland.

Wolvaardt is expected to be unveiled ahead of South Africa’s assignment against Bangladesh at home next month

Firdose Moonda11-Nov-2023Laura Wolvaardt is set to be confirmed as South Africa’s permanent captain after taking on the job in a temporary capacity for the series against Pakistan and New Zealand earlier this year.At the time of accepting the job on an interim basis, Wolvaardt had said she wanted to assess whether the leadership would impact her batting, but ESPNcricinfo understands that after topping the run-chart in the T20 series against Pakistan and finishing second on the list for in the ODIs against New Zealand, she has decided she wants the job full-time.Wolvaardt is expected to be unveiled in the role ahead of South Africa’s next assignment, against Bangladesh at home in December. That series will also be the final one for the current coaching staff, led by Hilton Moreeng, who has been in charge of the side since 2012 and oversaw their progression to the T20 World Cup final earlier in this year. Moreeng’s contract ended at the conclusion of that tournament but CSA dragged its heels in advertising for the post and, in August, his tenure was extended to the end of 2023 despite player grievances.Moreeng’s post has since been advertised and interviewed for and a new coach is set to be announced before South Africa tour Australia earlier next year.”We had interviews last week and we are still finalising a couple of things. As soon as we are done with the post-interview process, we will be able to make an announcement,” Enoch Nkwe, CSA’s director of cricket, said in Ahmedabad, where he is attending the men’s ODI World Cup. “The current coaching team will carry on until the end of December, but we want to give clarity as soon as possible because it will impact the Australian tour.”CSA is also set to put in place a head of women’s cricket, who will report to Nkwe. Applications for that post closed on July 14 but Nkwe indicated that the appointee is yet to be decided on.”The head of women’s cricket [role] has taken a while [to finalise]. We want to make sure the person that is going to take that position is not short-term,” Nkwe said. “We’ve just professionalised the domestic structure and there are plans within the high performance to get a South Africa A women’s side over the next 12 months, so we have the same structure as the men’s. The women’s structure is really growing nicely and we are really excited about it.”As part of the legacy of hosting the T20 World Cup, South Africa have taken significant steps to professionalise the women’s game. Their top-six domestic teams can now contract up to 11 players each and the national women’s players now get equal match fees as the men.

Sibley unbeaten on 142 before Lancashire duo stage unbroken opening partnership of 127

Paul Edwards06-May-2022
In Season 1, Episode 20 of Leo McGarry, the White House chief of staff, is determined to expose the hypocrisy of Congressmen regarding drug-enforcement. “We play the full nine innings at this level, Stuart,” he informs a senator’s PA, “Tell your friends.” If we overlook, for the moment, the dreadful faux pas of placing a baseball reference in a report on a cricket match, a comparable resolve has informed Lancashire’s cricket in the first month of this season.The games against Kent and Gloucestershire were only won deep in their final sessions but Lancashire’s players stuck to their task until the job was done, and Dane Vilas’s team has already shown similar tenacity against Warwickshire. Near the end of the first day the visitors were well placed on 240 for 4, only for a dog-tired seam attack to take three wickets with the new ball before the close. This morning Lancashire’s bowlers may have admired the application of Dom Sibley, who finished unbeaten on 142, but they dismissed the visitors for 315 and then took their ease as Luke Wells and Keaton Jennings celebrated their maiden opening partnership by putting on an unbroken 127 in the increasing gloom with Wells stroking the ball around particularly felicitously for his 70 not out.And perhaps some bad light was perversely appropriate. As these words are being written, a large number of Lancashire cricketers and some old players are gathering in the pavilion for a dinner to mark the 50th anniversary of the county’s famous Gillette Cup semi-final victory over Gloucestershire in which David Hughes defied light that gets worse with every passing year to hit the off-spinner John Mortimore for 24 runs in an over. The anniversary of that famous game actually occurred on July 28 last year but the dinner had to be postponed because of Covid.No matter. The folk attending that dinner will ignore the rain that is pelting down outside and they will tell tales of the days when Annie Walker ruled The Rover’s Return, old footballers served in pubs and women wore hats in church. Some of the yarns they exchange may even be true although one would not be shocked to hear it asserted that they don’t make bad light like they used to.That semi-final victory against Gloucestershire has become as much a part of Lancashire folklore as Francis Thompson’s run-stealers, Reggie Spooner’s style and Jack Simmons’ appetite. Yet some of those dining in the pavilion will also have watched today’s cricket and they should be full of admiration for Wells, whose drives through the off-side tortured every Warwickshire seamer with the exception of Olly Hannon-Dalby, who bowled 11 overs for 13 runs.Related

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Both Wells and Jennings are 6ft 4in left-handers but they complemented each other perfectly on this Friday afternoon and the only pity was that our day’s cricket was shortened by 35 overs, first by bad light, and then by drizzle, which became so heavy that Matt Merchant and his team had the square covered long before play was abandoned at 5.20. “I can’t stand the rain,” sang a Lancashire steward, although, heaven help us, he’s hardly had any of the stuff to dislike this spring.Instead, staff and supporters have been able to appreciate the honest toil of bowlers like Hasan Ali, who took two of the three wickets to fall this morning, and the strokeplay of Wells who hit Craig Miles for three fours before lunch and Nathan McAndrew for three more in the long hour when the members were digesting their lunches and the Vice-Presidents were getting stuck into the Grand Marnier. Wells reached his fifty off 90 balls with a square-driven four off Danny Briggs. In most of his dozen boundaries there was a minimum of effort but a maximum of return, although that could not be said of the fifth ball of the 42nd over, which was bowled by Rob Yates and clouted to the boundary over mid-on. Inspired by this cleanly-hit stroke, the umpires decided the light was not up to snuff and took the players off.Actually it had been getting gloomy for some time and ten minutes later it was raining. The spectators went home and one hopes they appreciated the fine batting they had seen. For his part, Wells is delighted to play for Lancashire now, but he was born in Eastbourne and it was strangely moving to watch a cricketer raised in Sussex bat so beautifully on what would have been Alan Ross’s hundredth birthday.Perhaps only one person in Emirates Old Trafford was aware that this was the centenary of one of the finest cricket writers and prose stylists that ever composed a sentence. But maybe we should let that pass on this soaking Mancunian evening. The members are returning and soon they will be shawled in their memories. Meanwhile, a member of the catering staff is laying the table in preparation for the festivities. On a whim, she turns to her mate: “But, tell me,” she says, “Who is this David Hughes, anyway? Has he been on Strictly?”

“More or less for me now it’s just about having fun and enjoying however many days I have playing international cricket”

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jun-2021″It was kind of a shock” for Jason Holder to be relieved from the West Indies Test captaincy, and while he admits to finding it difficult to transition from being the leader to an ordinary member of the team, he wants to focus more on his game, and be a sounding board for youngsters looking for guidance.”Yeah, it’s been difficult. I probably may not show it, but it has been difficult,” Holder told ESPNcricinfo in an interview a couple of days away from the start of West Indies’ first Test against South Africa in St Lucia. “For the last five-six years, I’ve been captaining West Indies, whether that be Test-match cricket or one-day cricket. So now being relieved of both captaincies, it has been a strange transition for me personally.”Related

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Kraigg Brathwaite led West Indies in Bangladesh when Holder, as well as a number of other regulars, opted out of the tour because of the Covid-19 situation around the world. West Indies swept the two-Test series, and when it was time to select the squad for the home series against Sri Lanka in March, the team kept faith in Brathwaite. Roger Harper, the lead selector, said at the time that Brathwaite’s role in shepherding the team successfully in the absence of many first-choice players in Bangladesh had played a big role in his appointment on a permanent basis.That meant Holder’s stint as captain, which had begun in October 2015, ended after 37 matches, which included 11 wins and 21 losses. It was a period in which he climbed to great heights as a player, piling on big hauls with the ball and even hitting a double-century with the bat. After 47 Tests, Holder has 123 wickets at an average of 27.41, 2253 runs at an average of 33.13, and the No. 1 spot in the ICC rankings for Test allrounders.Holder played the home series against Sri Lanka, in Antigua, and did well. In the first Test, there was a five-wicket haul (his eighth in Tests) and in the second, there were scores of 30 and 71* – both matches were drawn.”It was kind of a shock. Yeah, still lost for words in regards to that, but I am not dwelling on it. I don’t think it’s something I should dwell on, to be fair,” Holder said. “I am just trying to find ways to move on and transition back to just being a regular player. For me now, it’s about showing a bit more of my character, and being a lot more… I would say outspoken. I am relatively outspoken, but just expressing myself a little bit more and having fun.”I feel as though I have been really, really committed to West Indies cricket – I am still committed to West Indies cricket, but more or less for me now it’s just about having fun and enjoying however many days I have playing international cricket.”Holder is still only 29, and has spent most of his career at the highest level in leadership roles. Without that responsibility, Holder felt he would have to redesign his role in the team.”There is a lot less pressure, a lot less responsibility. It’s just about me now personally… I’m a 100% team man. So I’ll play my part to help the team and if there are other players who are seeking out advice or guidance, no doubt I’ll be here to give them that,” he said. “But it’s no longer a time where you’ve got to look to select teams, look at combinations… all these things have just gone through the window. So for me now, it’s just a little bit more detailed as to as to my preparation into myself, particularly, and not having to deal with the team aspect of it.”I guess my contributions now will be more so in small groups and one-on-one basis with the players. And team meetings obviously I’ll share my expertise, and give as much guidance as I possibly can, but I still think the captain has to be given his leeway to lead the team the way he wants to lead the team, and we’ve got to give him confidence and support that we can as the group.”The first West Indies vs South Africa Test starts on June 10, with the second set for a June 18 start at the same venue.