Territorial mentality needs to change in West Indies cricket, says Jason Holder

The two-time former title winners will not compete in the 50-over World Cup for the first time since the competition began in 1975.

Harare: West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder called on fellow cricketers to eschew the “territorial” mentality and come together “as a region” for the good a day after the team failed to qualify for India’s ODI World Cup of sports.

The two-time former title winners will not compete in the 50-over World Cup for the first time since the competition began in 1975.

The team from the Caribbean were knocked out on Saturday after losing seven wickets to Scotland in a Super Six match of the World Cup qualifier here.

The West Indies scored 181 and Scotland chased after target with over six overs to spare.

“It is (cricket) not an individual or territorial thing. We need to come together as a region… and really, really think about how we want to go forward as a group and get it done,” one of the world’s top all-rounders said at the post-game press conference here. on Saturday.

Holder scored 45 and took a wicket on Saturday.

Cricket West Indies (CWI), the governing body of the team, consists of six associations, namely Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Trinidad & Tobago and Windward Islands.

The tall 31-year-old cricketer added that his team knew the importance of the game against Scotland and had a good chance, but could not cross the line in the end.

“We knew what was at stake and we still had a chance to qualify. We had a really good chance to play against Scotland and beat them (but) we didn’t.

“This is probably one of the lowest points I’ve had with the team. But you know, there are still a lot of positives. I was very happy for Nicholas Pooran, the way he played this whole competition. And it’s good to see some of the younger guys getting a chance on the big stage,” he said.

Holder said no short-term patchwork will help West Indies cricket and changes need to happen at grassroots level.

“It’s not a quick fix, it’s something we have to spend time on. As I said, development (at the grassroots level) is the most important thing, where we can just put things in place and develop our talent. Hopefully we can see the fruits of that harvest in years to come.” Holder indicated that he saw this day coming, saying the West Indies team has seen a “fluctuation” in performance over the past few years.

“There have been too many fluctuations between good performance and poor performance (in recent years) and it’s a matter for us to understand where we stand and we all need to put our hands on the deck to make it (turnaround) make it happen.” “We also need to look at the levels below (age group and domestic cricket) and do our best to improve them as well. So when these young guys come here (senior level), they have a good foundation. We all need to raise our hands and be accountable as individuals.

“We just didn’t play well enough. We may not have played well enough in recent years,” he added.