When Holder didn't meet Hooper

How low can you go? Carl Hooper made plain his views on the subject on Saturday (June 17), labelling West Indies' ongoing decline "distressing". That can land in two ways with players: as motivation or as a punch to the gut. Which was it in this case, Jason Holder?

"It's the first I'm hearing it," Holder said in Harare on Monday. "People will have their opinions, and they're entitled to them. We've got a job to do. We don't need to make it harder on ourselves by taking on any outside pressure."

Reminded that Hooper, whose temporary appointment as West Indies assistant coach was announced on June 2, wasn't an outsider but inside the dressing room, Holder said: "Fair enough. At the end of the day, the thing is to stay focused on what we need to do. We've come here to qualify, and that's what we need to do."

Holder and Hooper want the same thing: for the Windies to nail down one of the two men's World Cup places available at the qualifiers being played at four venues in Harare and Bulawayo, which will culminate in the final at Harare Sports Club on July 9. But they could differ on the means to achieve that end.

Maybe Hooper, as a newer member of the camp, brings harder eyes to the West Indians' current challenge. Maybe Holder, who made his international debut in February 2013 and captained West Indies in 126 of his 247 matches across the formats, understands the importance of shutting the dressing room door before commenting trenchantly.

Maybe Hooper, who was part of a West Indies side who lost 41.64% of the matches he played in a career that stretched from March 1987 to March 2003, cannot fathom how the Windies have gone down in 54.87% of their games since his retirement. Maybe Holder can't either, but knows better than to say so out loud.

West Indies used to win more than they lost. They triumphed in the first two editions of the World Cup, in 1975 and 1979, reached the final in 1983, and did not need to qualify for the first 10 tournaments. That changed in 2018, when they did earn a place in England in 2019. Now the equation is reversed.

The teams Hooper played in lost 17.87% fewer matches than those that have featured Holder. That's not to suggest Holder is among the reasons for the decline. Measured from his debut, no-one has played more games for them or taken more wickets and only Shai Hope has scored more runs.

But Hooper's point stands. Asked by reporters whether the Windies had progressed or regressed since they failed to reach the second round of the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia in October and November, he said: "The position hasn't changed. The point is can we go lower than this? Yes, we can go lower than this. And if we don't qualify we go a step lower. Never did I think that I'd live to see the day where West Indies are trying to qualify for major tournaments. I sat in Australia and we struggled to get through it in the T20s, And here we are in Zimbabwe.

"No disrespect to the other teams but we're playing against the likes of the USA, Nepal and Scotland. Even Afghanistan is ahead of us. Bangladesh has gone ahead of us. So this is distressing. Can we go lower? Yes, we can go lower. This game continues to remind you that until you start doing the right things, you can go lower. As I said before, I never thought I would live to see this day, but here I am in Zimbabwe, starting a game on Sunday. We've got to try and beat the USA."

The West Indians duly did that in the inaugural ODI at Takashinga, overcoming a shaky 14/2 inside six overs to total 297 and limit the Americans to a reply of 258/7. But even the silverish cloud of a convincing win had a dull lining. The match marked the first time the US dismissed a Test-playing nation in an ODI and only the second time in white-ball cricket. The other instance was in Lauderhill in December 2021, when they bowled out Ireland for 150 in a T20I.

Challenging conditions posed by a 9am start on a dewy winter morning helped explain the Windies' poor start on Sunday. Holder didn't take guard until the 37th over, long after the sun had dried the pitch. But he offered pithy advice on how to tackle the issue: "There's a lot of moisture in the wicket early up, so you need to be more watchful. There's a bit of spongy bounce and then there's a little bit of seam movement as well. If you're batting first you've got to be more circumspect, give yourself a really good chance and bat deep."

West Indies have three remaining chances in the group stage to heed Holder's advice or bowl accordingly if they field first - against Nepal at Harare Sports Club on Thursday, Zimbabwe at the same ground on Saturday, and the Netherlands at Takashinga on Monday. Doubtless Hooper, a Windies captain himself in 71 matches and like Holder an allrounder but unlike him a batter first and an off-spinner second, would concur with Holder's opinion.

Maybe the dots between Holder and Hooper aren't disparate. Maybe they need to have a chat, and to remember to shut the door first.