Opening batsman Kraigg Brathwaite has replaced Jason Holder as West Indies Test captain, Cricket West Indies confirmed tonight.
Brathwaite, who has previously led the team in seven Tests whilst deputizing for Holder, including the recent 2-0 Test Series win away to Bangladesh, becomes the 37th Test captain of the West Indies.
Holder, the current No.1 all-rounder in the ICC Test rankings, captained the West Indies team in 37 Tests since taking over from Denesh Ramdin in 2015, leading the side to 11 wins, five draws and 21 defeats.
“On behalf of CWI, I would like to thank Jason for all he has given to the game in the region while serving as captain of our Test team,” said Jimmy Adams, CWI Director of Cricket.
“Throughout his five-and-a-half-year tenure, he has led with dignity while always upholding the highest values of the sport. As the world’s leading Test all-rounder, we all believe that Jason still has a tremendous role to play in West Indies Test cricket for many years to come.”
Meanwhile, chief selector Roger Harper said Brathwaite has proven he is worthy of the captaincy of the Test team.
“We all believe that Kraigg is the right man to lead our Test side at this point in time and I’m delighted that he has accepted the role,” Harper said.
“In the recent Test series against Bangladesh, Kraigg was able to motivate his players to play to a very high level and create the culture we are looking to establish where the team showed a collective determination to fight and a real hunger for success.”
Brathwaite said he was looking forward to leading the team going forward.
“It is a huge honour to be given the captaincy of the West Indies Test team,” he said.
“I feel extremely proud and humbled that the Board and selectors have given me the opportunity and responsibility to lead the team. The recent Test series win in Bangladesh was a fantastic achievement and I’m really looking forward to the upcoming home series against Sri Lanka and I’m excited about what I believe this team can achieve in the future.”
The squad for the first Test against Sri Lanka will be announced tomorrow during the interval of the second CGI Insurance ODI at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.
Ironically, the door for Brathwaite’s elevation was opened by Holder himself after declining to tour Bangladesh because of factors related to fatigue and the Covid-19 pandemic. The Test team’s vice-captain Roston Chase also declined to tour and Brathwaite filled the captaincy vacancy. Following the successful Asian tour several former players have supported the retention of Brathwaite as captain while some have questioned Holder’s captaincy.
Former West Indies wicketkeeper and vice-captain Deryck Murray said last month he would retain Brathwaite as captain and allow Holder to concentrate on his role as the team’s premier allrounder.
“There is a strong case for saying to Jason Holder ‘come back, don’t have the pressures of captaincy on you. You are going to be the central all-rounder in this team, you’re going to bat at six, we need you to attack as a bowler, be a wicket-taking bowler, not a containing bowler as the fourth seamer in the team,’” Murray said.
Meanwhile, retired internationals, Barbados’ Philo Wallace and Trinidad and Tobago’s Tony Gray, recently questioned Holder’s competencies as a captain. Gray said Barbados Pride’s dismal performance in the Regional Super50 Cup where they basically came last in the tournament was an indictment on Holder’s leadership.
“If you look at the Bajans for example, I don’t think they were led properly and a lot of people like Jason Holder but the fact is he was a weak leader in this tournament. Tactically he was weak.
“If you have a Bajan team full of talent and experience and you won one out of six games, it tells me it’s not only the game against Jamaica people were hurting about but obviously he was a weak leader throughout the tournament and people don’t want to say that but it’s a fact,” Gray said.
Gray added: “I think Jason Holder is a tired man – I think he said it [already]. He’s mentally tired. He doesn’t have the power of influence again on his own players in the Barbados set up and I don’t think he will have the power of influence in the Test team, and I think we have to go with Kraigg Brathwaite who performed marvellously well. It seems to be a new culture. I don’t think that Holder has the power of influence again.”
Wallace said he believed Holder had lost the “art of captaincy” while also criticizing his leadership in the regional tournament
“Jason has lost the art of captaincy. There are no tactical moves. We just saw a Super50 competition he captained six games and we lost 5. We had a team 87 for 8 and we could not crush them. The captain who is 6ft 6’ could not take up the ball and bowl three devastating yorkers and bowl out the team for under 120. That is what we call leadership, you take it up and you do it yourself.” (SportsMax/WG)
