… Holidays will refresh players ahead of Bangladesh series

By Clifton Ross

WEST Indies Test captain Jason Holder has admitted that life inside the bubble since summer has been mentally tiring for players, adding that his side will be keen on regrouping ahead of the 2021 season. The Caribbean side lost the 3 T20 series 2-nil with the 3rd being washed out. They then suffered a 2-nil defeat in the recently concluded Test series, bringing a dismal end to their assignment in this COVID-stricken year.
There were some brilliant individual performers like centurion Jermaine Blackwood and young Joshua DaSilva who had a half-century in the second game.
Holder told the media following the match, that he was indeed feeling the brunt of isolated cricket, as he has been a part of multiple bubbles since cricket restarted under new guidelines, back in July.

The NBA are ironically the engineers of the bubble concept with regard to improvisation with a 100 percent success rate following the end of their 2020 seasons with no positive COVID-19 tests since restarting. Holder, too, when looking back at the return of action amidst the coronavirus breakout, seemed to know the life inside a bubble would have been more mentally challenging than it would have been physically.
“It has been a tough year, not just for the team but I know for me personally it has been tough. I haven’t seen home in six months now. I have been going non-stop, We have had pay-cuts. It is a situation where you are still looking to make a living, still looking to make use of every opportunity you get,”.Holder explained.
Adding to the challenges of life in a bio-secure environment, the Barbados all-rounder admitted that as a player you will need to have some sense of discipline not only physically but mentally; as things aren’t always roses for players.

With the holidays right around the corner and the New Zealand series being the final of 2020 for the West Indies, Holder added that spending time with family after months of isolation will most certainly help to further refresh the players as they prepare for 2021.
“It would be good for the guys to get home for Christmas, spend some time with their families; hopefully some of them get there in time for Christmas, because I think you’ve got to do quarantine. Some players have to do quarantine going back home. It will be a much-needed rest for some players to just refresh and come back,”.Holder ended. Now with emphasis already being placed on January’s potential Bangladesh series, it’s more than ever important for Holder and his men to learn as much as possible from their experiences in the bubbles this year. Given the bubble system is here to stay at least for foreseeable months to come in 2021, Christmas at home with friends and family while breaking the New Year in one’s comfort zone will be ideal for all as they prepare for another year of the unknown.