Holder talks up united dressing room after series win over England

After his historic bowling performance led West Indies to a 3-2 victory over England in the five-match T20 series, all-rounder Jason Holder praised the character displayed by the players and talked up the unity in the dressing room.

The team came under the radar during the series for an alleged fallout between the skipper and a player, and Holder said it was important they shut out the background noise and focus on the on-field task, which was to win the series against the number one ranked T20 side.

“I think it (background noise) feeds different people differently. For me, I’m one to just shut it out,” Holder said.

“I’ve heard so much of it, it’s time to stop hearing it and just crack on and do what’s required of you.”

“After the start we had in Jamaica against Ireland (losing the series 2-1) everybody was really, really down and deflated. To see the way we bounced back here against England just shows the character in the dressing room. I think we pulled together. It’s the first time in a very long time I felt that close in the dressing room.”

“It’s a great feeling, hopefully we can continue this and build something special.”

The former West Indies captain believes the current squad, a relatively young one, has lots of promise and should be persisted with.

“Once we do that, the future of West Indies cricket would be in good hands.”

During an interview with CWI Media on Monday, Holder also touched on his personal heroics, becoming only the fourth player to take a helmet-trick in T20 cricket and his 15 wickets, which earned him the Man-of-the-Series award.

Consistency, he pointed out, was the most pleasing aspect of his performance in the series.

The 30-year-old had figures of 4-7, 2-25, 1-41, 3-44 and 5-27 in the series.