Jason Holder has explained why he decided to opt out of the Test series in West Indies’ tour of Australia as he wants to maximise his chance of playing in the T20 World Cup 2024.
Holder was one of the big names missing from the squad for the Test series which begins on January 17 in Adelaide. Apart from the all-rounder, Kyle Mayers also decided to snub the series as West Indies named seven uncapped players in their squad for the Test series.
Holder and Mayers will be playing in the ILT20 and SA20 at the time when the series will be taking place.
Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Holder said that he wasn’t turning his back on his Test cricket career and it was far from over. The all-rounder said that he felt it was the right decision for him at this time, despite being a difficult one.
Holder said that he wants to prioritise T20 cricket at the moment leading up to the World Cup in the Carribean and the USA next year.
“By no means is this me turning my back on Test cricket,” Holder told ESPNcricinfo. “It’s not curtains for me in Test cricket by any means. It’s my first time going through something like this and I felt that it was necessary to be as honest and as open with CWI as I possibly can. It was a very difficult decision: I just feel as though this is the right cricketing decision for me at this time.”
“It was a difficult one. But as much as I love Test cricket, I want to give myself the best chance of playing in that World Cup. I felt it was probably best to prioritise and focus on playing as much T20 cricket leading up to that as possible. I will probably sleep a little bit better knowing that I’ve given myself the best opportunity to do that.”
Really want to be part of a home World Cup: Jason Holder
Holder went on to say that he has never played a World Cup at home and he was desperate to be a part of the tournament.
The all-rounder also feels that West Indies does have a chance to win the title in front of their home crowd next year.
“I’ve never played a World Cup at home: I really, really want to be a part of it because I love playing in front of the fans in the Caribbean,” he added. “I think we’ve really got a good chance of lifting the trophyâæ the cricket that we’ve been playing in the last couple of months gives us real encouragement that we can go there and do something special. Why wouldn’t I want to give myself the best chance to be a part of it?”
