West Indies captain Jason Holder handed one-game suspension
West Indies will be without their captain Jason Holder for the second ODI against Sri Lanka as he received a one-match suspension for maintaining a slow over-rate during the first ODI in Colombo as per a report on cricket.com.au.
This was Holder’s second over-rate related transgression of the year, following a similar offence in the fifth ODI against South Africa in January.
Match referee David Boon ruled that West Indies were two overs short of their allocation in the rain-curtailed encounter on Sunday after taking time allowances into consideration. As captain, Holder was fined 40% of his match fees, while his team-mates were docked 20% of theirs.
Article 2.5.1 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Players Support Personnel, states that players are fined 10% of their match fee for every over that they fail to bowl within the allotted time, while the captain is fined double that amount.
There was no need for a formal hearing as the 23-year-old pleaded guilty to the offence and the proposed sanction.
Although West Indies narrowly lost the first ODI, Holder impressed with both the bat and ball. After smashing 36 off just 13 balls to help his side put up a competitive score, the all-rounder’s tight bowling kept them in the game.
In the end, it was another all-round performance, by Ajantha Mendis that proved to be the difference between the two sides in a game that was high on drama and entertainment. Mendis followed up his two wickets with an unbeaten 21 to see his side home.
Going into the penultimate ODI at Colombo on Wednesday, the visitors are still looking for their first victory over Sri Lanka on this tour. They have already lost the two-match Test series 2-0, along with the opening ODI and will look to save some face and keep the series alive, without their skipper’s all-round ability.
While Holder will be available for the final ODI, it is still unclear whether Phil Simmons will be rejoining the national set-up. While many media outlets reported in the last few days that Phil Simmons was to be reinstated as the head coach of the West Indies side, Michael Muirhead, CEO of West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has clarified that Simmons hasn’t been reinstated yet.
Simmons was suspended by the WICB on September 28 after he publicly expressed his displeasure for not getting the best ODI squad for the Sri Lanka tour.
"There has been no formal reinstatement," Muirhead told ESPNcricinfo. "We agreed to certain conditions in principle about how to go forward." He also confirmed that a meeting with Simmons and his attorney took place over Skype on October 21.