West Indies captain Jason Holder admitted he is "not sure" whether Jermaine Blackwood would've made it to the playing XI for the first Test against England at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton if not for the unavailability of Darren Bravo and Shimron Hetmyer who opted out of the tour.
Bravo, Hetmyer, visitors' batting mainstays in Test match cricket, and all-rounder Keemo Paul decided against travelling for the series due to health concerns amid COVID-19 pandemic, in wake of which, this entire trip is being conducted with bio-secure arrangements.
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Blackwood carried the form at the domestic level that booked his ticket for the aircraft to the UK and played one of his career's best innings, scoring 95 after coming in at 27/3 to help West Indies chase down the target of 200 on a deteriorating fifth-day track and go 1-0 up in the three-match series.
"Not sure (if Blackwood would've made it in normal circumstances). He had an outstanding first-class competition," Holder said in a virtual conference. "I'm not going to get into selection but his case was pretty strong to get back into the team, he scored a double-hundred this year in a first-class game."
"Unfortunately for me I haven't been able to see him bat but his numbers speak for themselves. He's no slouch with the bat at this level either in comparison to our players that we've got, he's averaging above 30 and he's done well for us. I just hope he can kick on and make a few more hundreds," the skipper added.
Despite this impactful act, Blackwood averages only 31.25 after 29 Tests in his career. He has made fifty or more only 11 times, including only one ton in his 51 Test innings. For Holder, however, there is no doubt Blackwood is the right individual to have in the set-up, given the potential he has to play such innings more regularly in the middle-order and take the game back to the opposition, putting them off their plans.
"Jermaine Blackwood, man. If I had 12 Jermaine Blackwoods, those are the kind of guys you want to step on to a cricket field with," said Holder. "These are team guys, through thick and thin. I've played lots of cricket with and lots of cricket against [him], we played all our youth cricket together and played a youth World Cup together, so I know the player."
"That's why when things happen like how they did in the first innings, yeah you're disappointed, but you can't put a player like that into his shell."
"So it's more about trying to manage him and help him try to understand the different passages of play, where he can be a little bit more collective, where he needs to settle and hang in for a bit before going on the attack again. He is an attacking player, but it's (about) giving him that confidence and support," he added.
(Inputs from ESPNcricinfo)
