Jason Holder promises aggressive cricket against Australia
West Indies captain Jason Holder has assured that his aggressive and smart cricket will be played against the World number 2 Australian side in the upcoming series. The Caribbean team is scheduled to play three Test matches against the Kangaroos starting from December 10.
While speaking to a bunch of reporters in Brisbane, Holder was confident about the fact that the Windies can exploit Australia’s weaknesses which were keenly observed by his team during the recently concluded Trans-Tasman series.
Australia defeated West Indies in the two-match Test series this summer by 2-0 during The Frank Worrell Trophy. Holder added his team will be targeting the Aussies middle which consist of players who are still trying cement their places in the team.
"We don't come with just some belief, we come with a lot of belief. If we don't believe, there's no point being here. We have to play aggressive cricket, we have to play smart cricket. The Australians are the No.2-ranked side in the world. They will come at us pretty hard, as we saw in the Caribbean.
"[In the Australia-New Zealand series] We saw weaknesses where we can exploit. There's some new faces, mixed with some guys who have been in rich veins of form. It's important that we put some pressure on their middle order.
"If we get early wickets with the new ball, we can get guys like Shaun Marsh, guys who are trying to make their way back into this side, put them under some pressure to score. Once we can do that it should be a relatively competitive series. They have some in-form batsmen, David Warner and Steve Smith, so it's just important that we put some pressure on their middle order."
Holder replaced Dinesh Ramdin as the Test captain before the start of recent Sri Lanka series. The team struggled to put any competition in the Lankan island and were whitewashed in Test and one-day international series by the home team.
Holder said he had an idea about Australia’s current form. He believed that the Windies pacers have the talent to extract from the Down Under flat pitches.
"Not only do we have the pace, we have bowlers with the skill to extract movement," Holder said. "I saw in the first two Test matches there were some pretty flat pitches and the ball didn't do much. The Australian batsmen and the New Zealand batsmen were able to capitalise.
He continued: "One of the crucial things in this series will be to extract some movement. I saw what movement did in this last Test match with New Zealand and Australia, with both sides being a bit at fault and being caught out. It's important our bowlers look to do something with the ball."
Australia are a tough side to be defeated at home and Holder accepted that fact. The West Indies captain concluded by saying he will be happy if improvements take place in his team by the end of tour.
"It's one of the biggest challenges," Holder said. "They're a very good side playing at home, it's just important that we learn as quickly as possible and not be intimidated by their bowlers, just be confident. If we make improvements then I'll be quite happy at the end of the series."
Overall Test record between Australia and West Indies
Span
Matches Australia Won Windies Won Tied Draw 1930-2015 113 56 32 1 24