Chemar Holder’s star rising

Chemar Holder is more accustomed to going to war alongside Jofra Archer than waging one against him but the West Indies’ latest fast bowling talent does not sound daunted.

The duo, who met several years ago at Barbados club cricket, are team-mates when it comes to the online battles of video game Call of Duty but will be on opposite sides as the West Indians defend the Wisden Trophy next month.

Holder, one of two uncapped players in the official 14-strong squad, has drawn comparisons to England’s World Cup hero, not only for his background but his style of bowling. “I would say we are similar in having a slowish run-up and how we deliver the ball,” Holder said.

At 22, he is the youngest in a touring squad led by his namesake Jason Holder. Yet that does not mean a lack of experience in English conditions. In previous summers, he has spent time with Hampshire and the MCC Young Cricketers and he toured England with West Indies ‘A’ two years ago.

“You need to bowl a lot straighter and a lot fuller to get men committed on the front foot. It’s easy to play back-foot shots here because the ball comes straight on to the bat and even if you bowl a good length ball they can push it through cover, so the challenge is to limit the use of their arms and make them score straight down the ground,’ said Holder, who appears to have a plan for pretty much everything.

Sometimes plans change. Although he loves cricket, it was in track and field that Holder excelled in his youth. Indeed, he was chasing an athletics scholarship for his favoured distance of 800 metres in 2015 when he was selected for Combined Campuses and Colleges in the Caribbean’s regional 50-over competition.

On February 8, 2016, a month and a day after his List A debut, he was making his West Indies Under-19 debut. Inside another week he was a world champion.

Now he is on the verge of renewing his partnership with Alzarri Joseph at that tournament in Bangladesh — Holder has rarely played in matches with speed guns but was clocked at 87 miles per hour — on the biggest stage of all.

Of the chance to pull on the famous maroon cap for the first time in a Test match, he told The Mail On Sunday: “It would mean a lot to me because since I was a youngster I have wanted one. Every tournament I’ve played, every step I’ve made, has been working towards it.

“Even before the regional four-day tournament this year, I was telling guys that I was looking to take a stand, to take 40 wickets — not really so that people would recognise me, but for me myself.

“It was my self-goal. Not to please anybody else, just to please me.”

Two rounds were cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic but Holder was on course. His tally of 36 victims was comfortably the most for a fast bowler as his Barbados team were victorious.

A member of the West Indies’ backroom team believes he could make a similar impression to the one Ian Bishop made in 1988. Few knew of Bishop at the start of that tour, plenty did by its end.

Holder’s childhood hero was Curtly Ambrose. “I loved his attitude towards the game. He was serious. He played with a lot of aggression.” Standing at 6ft 2ins, Holder is far shorter than that prestigious pair. But a series of three behind-closed-doors matches in as many weeks will require stamina, which he has in abundance.

In the beep test on the pre-tour fitness camp, there was Holder and then dust. “I don’t see anybody beating me. I am always trying to push that limit, raise that bar,” he said. “Chemar doesn’t have a six-pack, he has a 10-pack,” said one of the West Indies party.

He also has his eyes on being No1 in another challenge. Among the activities in the games room of Old Trafford’s Hilton hotel, where his squad are isolating for a fortnight, is an arcade-style basketball hoop. “That’s when the egos can really come out,” he laughed.

(Adapted, DailyMail)