Jason Holder Ascendency

Guyana chronicle editorial

When we thought that the Clive Lloyd-led West Indies selection-panel had given us enough surprises in recent months, this past week they sprung yet another one. Wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin was sacked as the test captain after a mere 13 months on the job. His place is taken by young Barbadian pacer, Jason Holder, who in an earlier surprise move had replaced Dwayne Bravo as the captain of the One-day team. Despite the show of confidence in the young man at the time, many pundits felt that he was being gradually eased rather than rushed into the job of full-time captain. They were patently wrong.

Since assuming the job, the selection panel, which apart from Lloyd, includes two other West Indies players, Courtney Walsh and Courtney Browne, has in very quick time overseen what almost amounts to an overhaul of the team. In addition to turning the reins over to the 23 year old Holder, it has for all intents and purposes rid the Test team and to some extent the One Day team of those players whose commitment to West Indies cricket has been questioned. The panel seems to be very serious about the “West Indies First” policy. Then, to the shock of most, they retired the long-serving dependable Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

Those who ae familiar with Lloyd’s stint as captain of the all-conquering West Indies team of the 1970s-1980s should not be surprised at these moves. When he assumed the captaincy of the team in 1974 he quickly moulded a new team of young men whose collective outlook mirrored the radical nationalist spirit of the time. They would go on to rule the cricket world for the next two decades. One remembers, for example, Lloyd’s gamble with the young, untested Michael Holding who was plunged into the fray in Australia in 1975-76. Many questioned his selection, but he would quickly begin to play a pivotal role in the ascendancy of the team and distinguish himself as one of the all-time greats.

Jason Holder has been similarly plunged into the proverbial deep end. But unlike Holding, he is given the leadership of the team. One suspects that it is only a matter of time before he takes over leadership of the T20 team from Darren Sammy. The big question is whether the panel and the WICB would sustain this initial confidence in the young man. In the past, they have not shown a tendency to do so. Most captains—and there have been quite a few in the last two decades of downward slide—became victims of a combination of regime change and popular pressure.

The most recent long-term experiment with Darren Sammy eventually crumbled in the face of the relentlessness of the latter—the selectors and the WICB buckled. Truth be told, Sammy was removed just at the time the team was showing signs of recovery. That his replacement has been sacked after a year and a few games, proves to some extent the wrongheadedness of the move.. But that is behind us now.

The way of the youth is the chosen path. It should be supported. We have tried everything else in the last two decades with minimal success. We congratulate Jason Holder on his appointment to what has been dubbed the equivalent to a Caribbean Head of Government. How he meets the inevitable challenges would be largely determined by the vibes and energy from the wider West Indian society. His destiny is in our hands.

One positive for Holder is that he would not have to deal with the so-called rebel group, which made Sammy’s job more difficult than he bargained for. Lloyd has cleared the way from Holder. Although new coach, Phil Simmons, seems intent on bringing the group back into the fold, Lloyd is obviously not interested. For Holder and his new young charges to meet the challenges of pulling us back from the edge, they must be given time to settle. The WICB and the rest of us have to come to grips with the fact that reconstruction is not an overnight phenomenon. It is not sprinting, Usain Bolt style; it is medium-to long distance running.

David Rudder in the original version of his celebrated, Rally Round the West Indies, which urges patience and support in the face of setbacks, draws attention to the impatience in the West Indian psyche—ask Darren Sammy. Already the familiar chorus can be heard in the background—Holder’s automatic selection cause an imbalance in the team. The translation is that he does not deserve his place in the team. Lloyd and his panel should not allow such platitudes to influence their stewardship.

And for us beyond the boundary, David Rudder’s positive battle cry is worth remembering—Never Say Never/ Pretty soon the runs are going to flow like water/Bringing so much joy to every son and daughter/Say we're going to rise again like a raging fire/As the sun shines you know we gonna take it higher/Rally, rally round the West Indies/Now and forever/Rally, rally round the West Indies.