We only make money when India or England travel to West Indies: Jason Holder

The first Test series after a long wait due to Coronavirus happened between England and West Indies with former being the hosts. As we have seen lately the home teams have dominated Test series and England won it here as well. The pandemic came at a time when it was a home season for the European country and it suffered a lot financially. The best thing for them happened when the Caribbeans agreed to send their team even when the pandemic was at its peak.

The captain of the touring team Jason Holder wants England Cricket Board to show appreciation towards the Caribbean team who travelled during the difficult time. Holder wants England to tour the island nations later in the year as they are suffering financially and the tour would help them a lot. He also mentioned that it will be difficult for them to cover the expenses of the bio-secure requirements of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“If something doesn’t happen soon we’ll see less international cricket being played by smaller countries because we simply can’t afford it,” Holder said as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo. “We’ve gone from having four, five-match series, down to two and three. And it’s very difficult to host any more than that for us, particularly the Caribbean,” he added.

Speaking after their 269-run loss against the home side in the third and final match of the series, the all-rounder mentioned that one of the most important reasons for their series loss is the mental fatigue of players. The West Indies team only stayed at two venues for the entire 8 weeks of their tour. The feeling of being stuck in the room and seeing only the cricket ground has played a significant factor in the same.

Only England, Australia and India can probably host cricket: Jason Holder

However, he also admitted that this was the only way this series was possible considering the Global lockdown. In the current circumstances, only the ‘big three’ India, Australia and England can afford the cost of hosting a series. He further mentioned that Cricket West Indies only gains when India or England travel there otherwise it’s either break even or a loss.

“We only really make money from England, and I think India,” Holder said, associating discussions with Johnny Grave, the CWI chief executive. “We break even with Pakistan and Australia, and all the rest of the series we play are losses. But in these trying times only England, Australia and India can probably host cricket. Outside of that, the smaller territories are struggling financially to get cricket on.”