West Indies head coach Phil Simmons on Friday (June 26) said he isn’t worried about the fitness of Jason Holder despite the Test captain taking little part in their first Intra-squad warm-up game ahead of the next month’s three-match Test series against England.
However, Holder was in the field on all three days but did not bowl in the three-day warm-up match at Old Trafford which ended in a draw on Thursday (June 25). He was also lbw to Raymon Reifer for a golden duck in the warm-up game ahead of the Test series against England.
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Insisting he has no injury concerns over Holder, Simmons said the number one all-rounder in Test cricket has had a slight niggle on his ankle and that has held him back from bowling – which was also part of their plans for the West Indies captain in the first warm-up game.
But the head coach expects Holder to play a full part in the second internal warm-up game starting on 29 July as the West Indies continue their preparations for the first Test at Southampton on July 8.
Simmons told the Press Association news agency: “Jason has had a slight niggle on his ankle and that is what has held him back from bowling, but that was always the plan for this match.”
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The coach further added, “He will be back to bowling in the four-day game and should be bowling his full quota. As for the batting, if you get one ball and you’re out, that’s all you can do.”
Meanwhile, Simmons was also confident about the fitness of Shane Dowrich, who was forced to leave the field on Thursday afternoon session after injuring his side. He added, “Shane is fine. I’ll need to see the doctor to see exactly what is wrong but he seems to be doing fine.”
Former West Indies batsman also commented on the fitness of pace bowler Shannon Gabriel, who is officially listed as a reserve to the West Indies squad and is now raring go after recovering from an ankle injury, while revealing that all his squad members have tested negative in the latest round of COVID-19 tests.
Simmons signed off by saying, “He looks ready, that was evident here. When you see how he bowled in the first innings, then again yesterday and even more so this morning you could see he’s close to 100%. Now we want to get him up to 100 just before the Test match. Now we want to get him up to 100 just before the Test match.”
(With PA/AFP Inputs)
