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ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP

March 20, 2015

Jason Holder

WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND

Q. Chris Gayle hasn't trained for two days. Will he train today and what is the progress of him playing?
JASON HOLDER: Chris is out playing this morning. He's had an injection, nothing major. We'll see how he pulls up today and make a decision tomorrow morning.

Q. Would you (Indiscernible)?
JASON HOLDER: No, I wouldn't.

Q. You're still fairly young into your captaincy career. What are the emotions like heading into a World Cup quarterfinal where it's all on the line in a day?
JASON HOLDER: Well, I mean, it's not only me going into the game. It's obviously the entire team. We're pretty much up for the game. It's a do-or-die situation, and it's go big or go home, so I think that's enough motivation in the sense for the guys to go in there and put in their all.

Q. Having gotten this far and having difficulties along the way, how does the team after a loss to Ireland and then coming back, and then the uncertainty of each playing one match and not the other?
JASON HOLDER: You know, we're professionals. We just have to be professional with what we do. Obviously there will be obstacles and obviously there will be difficult times, and it's important we just look past it and try to move on from it. It makes no sense to dwell on certain issues and certain situations. The quicker we find solutions and move forward I think it will be better for the team. So in terms of losing games earlier, you'll lose cricket games, but the main thing is that we're here tomorrow in this quarterfinals and we're looking to win it.

Q. Talk about some of the success you've had in the tournament to date against the likes of Brendan McCullum in an aggressive form?
JASON HOLDER: Obviously Brendan McCullum is carrying some form. Our boys are carrying some form as well. We have Jerome Taylor who up there with the most wickets in the tournament, and myself haven't done too badly. We just have to be disciplined. I think aggression is also a key. Brendan's pretty much an aggressive batsman so I would probably fight fire with fire and try to get the better of him.

Q. Just back to Chris Gayle, what is the significance of Gayle to your team?
JASON HOLDER: Well, obviously Chris's stats speak for themselves. He's one of the most feared batsmen in world cricket. So to have Chris on my squad is a plus for anybody in a sense. So to have him there and just his presence alone is felt. We just hope that he can perform the way he's been known to perform over the years and we get the best of him.

Q. Can the team live without him? Is that a key thing you realize?
JASON HOLDER: Well, we won the last game at without him, so I can't say we can't win without him, you know? Obviously he's been a very good player for us over the years. But it's shown that we've got people to fit the bill. We've got Johnson Charles who came in the last game and he got a half century and looked the part. So we've got people to fill the boots in a sense. But obviously having Chris Gayle is a plus for us.

Q. Just on Chris as well, the decision will be made tomorrow, as late as tomorrow, do you think?
JASON HOLDER: Yeah, we have to give him time. Obviously he's at practice today, and we'll see how it goes at practice, and we'll make a decision tomorrow morning.

Q. But will he play?
JASON HOLDER: We'll see tomorrow morning.

Q. If you win, what will this mean to West Indian cricket and West Indian fans?
JASON HOLDER: It's a huge thing for us. Obviously, if you've been following, people pretty much didn't expect us to get to the quarterfinal stage and now we're here. So for us, we're just going out all guns blazing tomorrow and just giving our all. New Zealand can be beaten. We beat them in the past in our last series we played them here, and I know that we can beat them tomorrow.

Q. Talk about the concern, are you looking to like maybe change that at all if he doesn't play?
JASON HOLDER: Well, the way we go about selection is that we just try to see the conditions first of all and just make a decision based on the conditions. Obviously, Darren hasn't done as well as we'd like him to do, but we still have a lot of confidence in him. He has a part to play, and it could be a possibility that he plays a part in tomorrow's game if he plays. So it's just about seeing how the conditions look tomorrow at the ground and make a decision.

Q. Your middle order and Darren and Andre pass by that lower order, the middle orders also (Indiscernible). Do you see a head-to-head that you might be able to tip the balance in your favor if you play a platform on the likes of a Darren?
JASON HOLDER: Yeah, we always hope to set the game up for the guys to come in and be explosive. I think it's important that we assess the conditions as early as possible when we bat, and obviously bowling has been doing pretty well. So it's a matter of not being fearful of them and playing our natural games and take the attack to them in a sense. Once we do that, we can put them on the back foot early on and set up the game for our bowlers. I think ideally New Zealand's middle order hasn't been tested in a sense in this tournament, so it's important we get early wickets and test them in tomorrow's encounter.

Q. Do you expect the ball to swing tomorrow?
JASON HOLDER: I played and I've grown the last time we toured here. I can remember some. Generally we get a lot of movement here in New Zealand, so I would expect tomorrow for the ball to do something, and hopefully we can use it to the best of our advantage.

Q. What does it mean to you for tomorrow?
JASON HOLDER: To be honest, I just see it as another game. Yes, I'm captain and in a sense I'm a young captain. But I just don't think too deeply into it. For me, it's more about the entire team. I think once we can just rally together and win tomorrow's game, that in itself is enough for me.

Q. How much of a challenge to the team is the late swing that the ball generates as well?
JASON HOLDER: I don't (Indiscernible) as I said. It is -- we can counteract it. But it's about us believing in us and having a look at what they're presenting and play smart and accordingly. I think once we play the ball, we give ourselves a chance and know we can always make up in the end which we've shown in the past.

Q. I think you played here with the Under 20 team as a junior?
JASON HOLDER: Yeah, I played my Under 19 World Cup here in New Zealand.

Q. Is it any surprise to you that they've improved so much and done so well?
JASON HOLDER: No, it's no surprise to me. I don't expect any International Team to stay stagnant in one spot throughout their international experience. I expect improvement and I expect people to have steady progressions. It's no surprise to me the way New Zealand has built their squad in a sense. Again, we just expect a good contest tomorrow, and we'll go in all guns blazing tomorrow looking to win tomorrow's game.
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