Southampton: Beware of short balls from West Indies pacers — that’s the message being given to the Australian team by West Indies skipper Jason Holder.
For Holder, the reputation of the Australia batsmen does not matter. “We tend to formulate our plans for each batter. If it’s a situation where we feel a batsman may be susceptible to the short ball, then we’re going to use it. If it’s a situation where that’s not the case then we’ll find other alternatives.”
Holder believes all teams are using the short ball to get wickets and the bowling rules allow for two short balls per over. “I think all the teams so far have used the short ball and it’s just something that’s in the game. You’ve got two short balls per over — so you might as well use them.”
Holder believes that no team is unbeatable in this World Cup. “It’s a wide open tournament. All 10 teams are capable of lifting the World Cup. That’s why we are here, they’re the 10 best teams in the world. I just want to keep moving forward. We’ve played Pakistan already and that’s a hurdle that we’ve overcome. We’ve got Australia tomorrow and that’s our next hurdle, and that’s what I want to focus on.”
Holder is not bothered that Australia, being the superpower in world cricket, may play only very few matches in the next three years against them, according to the new Future Tours programme.
Holder reacted: “One thing I’m sure of is that’s beyond my control. I don’t plan the cricket, I just play it. At the end of the day, as I said, tomorrow is a game against Australia and that’s who we’re focused on. I’m not caught up with rivalry, I’m not caught up with the past per se. It’s a matter for us to go into tomorrow’s game — looking to execute our plans and beat Australia.”
