Jason Holder, West Indies’ former captain, says that England’s third white-ball tour of the Caribbean in as many years is a “massive boost to their survival as an international team”, and goes a long way towards repaying the ECB’s debt to his team after they helped to save the finances of English cricket during the Covid summer of 2020.
Holder, 32, led the West Indies squad that played three Tests behind closed doors in Manchester and Southampton at the height of the Covid outbreak in July 2020, enduring weeks of lockdown in bio-secure surroundings to help “keep the lights on”, in the words of the former ECB chief executive, Tom Harrison.
It was a tour that helped to mitigate the ECB’s losses during the pandemic, which could have been upwards of £380 million had their entire summer schedule been cancelled.
Each of those three Tests was worth approximately £20 million as they helped to fulfil the board’s £1.1 billion rights deal with Sky Sports.
Speaking at the end of that tour, Holder had warned that the ECB would be obliged to reciprocate the favour to help out cricket’s “smaller countries” who lacked the financial clout to stage matches during a global lockdown.
Now, four years on, he believes that England have been fulfilling their side of the bargain.
“I think it’s a fair way of putting it,” Holder told ESPNcricinfo, ahead of an eight-match tour that will be shown on TNT Sports in the UK.
“We’ve obviously had the English coming over for the last three years consecutively. And that has definitely boosted, not only our economy within the Caribbean, but it adds a massive boost to our survival in international cricket.
“We rely heavily on series between England and India, our revenues tend to come from those two teams. It’s our biggest series within any calendar year, and, yeah, it’s one that really brings the fans down to the Caribbean and creates a really fun atmosphere.
“So, it’s great to have them and to see the fans packing the stadiums as well. There’s always a good banter between the West Indian public and English public. So we’re thankful that we’ve been able to have them so many times in as many years. And long may it continue.”
Despite the financial disparities between the two boards, the Caribbean has been a particularly tough destination for England teams in recent years.
The Test team, famously, hasn’t won a series in the region since 2004, while the white-ball squads have lost each of their last three series: 3-2 in the T20Is in both 2022 and 2023, and 2-1 in their last ODI campaign in December last year.
“I’m looking forward to the contest,” Holder said.
“Both teams are in a transitionary phase, so it’s going to be keenly contested. England have obviously got a point to prove, and they’ll be trying a few different combinations to see what works. And likewise, with West Indies, we’ve got a lot of youngsters within our cohort, and it is important for them to just gain experience, gain confidence and gain knowledge. I think these series will go a long way to developing our base at a rapid rate.” (ESPNcricinfo)
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