Drakes says former sprinter Chemar Holder has the pace to torment England

• Former West Indies assistant coach and paceman Vasbert Drakes thinks Chemar Holder can showcase his skills in England.

Vasbert Drakes says the pace of former sprinter Chemar Holder could make a fierce West Indies assault much more potent in the Test sequence in opposition to England.

Uncapped 22-year-old Holder was named in the touring get together following some excellent home performances for Barbados Pride in the West Indies Championship.

The Barbadian gave an indication of his enormous potential again in 2016 when the Windies gained the Under-19 Cricket World Cup and will make his senior debut throughout a three-match sequence in England, which begins behind closed doorways at the Ageas Bowl subsequent Wednesday.

Former West Indies quick bowler and assistant coach Drakes has helped to nurture Holder’s expertise and thinks he could cause England issues if he’s given a possibility.

Drakes informed Stats Perform News: “I’ve recognized Chemar from a younger age, he went to faculty with my son, Dominic, and so they have come via the system collectively and been a part of the group of West Indies Emerging Players.

“I’ve finished some one-to-one teaching work with him and he is bought some good attributes, good ability units. He’s a tough employee and used to be a sprinter, he was a 400 metres runner and likewise competed in the 1500 metres.

“When he will get it proper, he is constantly in the excessive 80s [miles per hour]. The solely method to discover out if he is prepared is to throw him in at the deep finish in opposition to England.

“He would have performed in opposition to England A group final yr and would have gone to England the yr earlier than that as a part of the Emerging Players group, so he would have had the expertise of bowling in these situations.”

Kemar Roach was amongst 12 members of the Windies squad who Drakes labored with earlier than they flew out to England for the first worldwide cricket since the Corona Virus pandemic introduced the overwhelming majority of sport to a halt.

Roach was man of the sequence when West Indies gained a Test sequence in opposition to England in the Caribbean final yr and Drakes, who was assistant coach for that 2-1 triumph, says he could make a huge impact once more.

Asked if Roach will probably be the spearhead of the assault, he replied: “Absolutely. One of the issues he did effectively final yr was he took early wickets.

“Without making a gift of an excessive amount of methodology in how to deconstruct the opposition gameplan and counter them, Kemar Roach has the means to take early wickets, releasing the ball from broad of the crease and shifting away from batsmen – notably the right-handers.

“His monitor document in opposition to left-handers is phenomenal and England have some left-handers. Kemar and Jason [captain Holder], they set the tone together with [Alzarri] Joseph and Shannon Gabriel generally is a menace along with his pace and uncertainty he creates.

“It will probably be fascinating to see if that mixture can work because it did in the Caribbean.”

Published 04 Jul 2020, 00:14 IST