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ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP

June 22, 2019

Jason Holder

Manchester, England, UK

New Zealand - 291/8 (50), West Indies - 286 (49)

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Jason Holder. Questions?

Q. Very heartbreaking of course. But these kind of games give you confidence?
JASON HOLDER: Yeah, they definitely should. We fought right down to the very end. We came right back into the game when pretty much everyone thought the game was over.

And credit to the lower half. The guys really put it in their hands today and took responsibility. Top-notch by Carlos. He was outstanding. He gave us a chance, gave us hope. Just unfortunate at the very end that we weren't able to get a win.

Q. Perhaps give us some context to the whole scenario, just seemed to be a match of ebbs and flows. What was going through your mind I guess when there was that collapse in the middle of the order. Then you had Carlos. What was it like in the dressing room?
JASON HOLDER: We were all hopeful at the very end. As I said before, we were way behind the eight ball in the middle overs. I think when Carlos came to bat he had more than 20 overs to bat, a situation for him just to knuckle down get a partnership.

And credit to Kemar. I thought they put on a really good push. And it was 80-odd, and it really brought us back into the game. And obviously Carlos and Sheldon and then Carlos and Oshane. And these things really gives us a lot of hope, and they obviously make us very, very proud to know that the guys can fight very, very hard down to the end.

Just a little disappointing, obviously, not being able to cross the line, after coming so close. But I'm proud of the guys.

Q. Any kind of pressure living up to your glorious past every time a West Indies team takes the field?
JASON HOLDER: No pressure.

Q. Today was the anniversary of the Windrush 71 years ago. Was the team aware of that at all, and do you feel subconsciously that you drew upon that in some way, the fortitude you drew of that?
JASON HOLDER: I didn't know of it personally, and I'm not sure if any of the other guys knew of it as well. Look, I think if you just look back on the game of cricket we can all pinpoint one or two areas that we definitely can touch upon.

But I thought the guys played a really good game of cricket. It was an outstanding game of cricket by both teams. And something we just want to keep doing. We need to be a little bit more consistent in what we're doing. But as I said before we're really, really proud of the way the guys fought.

Q. A lot of people are watching the game will be saying that the last ball, the penultimate is just to push a single there rather than go for it. Is that just what you get with Carlos, the rough with the smooth, with that kind of attitude that can go do amazing things and then something --
JASON HOLDER: We wouldn't have gone down to the penultimate if it wasn't for Carlos as well. He's been playing excellently well up to that point. It's just one of those things.

Q. With the bowling, after two wickets in the first over, were you disappointed that you weren't able to disrupt New Zealand more, Williamson and Taylor?
JASON HOLDER: To restrict New Zealand for 290-odd, I would think is a really good effort from the bowlers. I thought the pitch was a really, really flat pitch. And it didn't really offer much assistance for the fast bowlers; didn't have many seam.

And it showed. Both teams played really well in the game. Both teams lost wickets probably in clusters. In this situation when you had to rebuild, you had to dig a little deeper to get your side back into the game. And just something that we just probably need to touch upon is our off-fielding. We drop a crucial chance in the very end.

But, look, you can sit here and say lots of things in hindsight, but I'm just proud of the guys the way they played.

Q. After such a good start when Gayle and Hetmyer were batting, I think the last five wickets, 22 runs. How bad was that for the team?
JASON HOLDER: We let ourselves down in the middle, no doubt. We were always up with the run rate. It wasn't a case where we needed to keep going, per se. We just needed to keep our wickets intact. Set it up in there, a really good foundation. And we weren't able to do that in the middle overs.

But we fought back well. And Carlos and the other guys at the lower half really gave us a chance. But as I said you can look back and pinpoint one or two areas in a great game, when you lose a great game. But having said that I still think we played a really good game.

Q. Just on Carlos, ever since that Kolkata innings, he's had to live up to that reputation. He's struggled to do that. You know him well. Does he feel it? What kind of work does he put in to come out of that?
JASON HOLDER: Yeah, his work ethic is really good. He's not one to shy away from his responsibilities. And he puts in a really good effort into his preparation. And that's one thing that I credit him for. The knock that he played today is not surprising to me.

I guess everybody could sit here and agree that we'd love to see that a little bit more often. But that's the general feeling within the entire group. I think as a team we just need to be a lot more consistent. But, yeah, seeing Carlos play the way he did doesn't really surprise me. Just a matter for us to bring it together more often.

Q. This kind of game, when it comes so close, is there a series of what ifs, what if we maybe could have batted a little bit smarter, what if we could, like, if the effort unfortunately not let you down in this game?
JASON HOLDER: I'm sure if New Zealand lost the game there would be a lot of what ifs for them, too. Even though they won the game, there's still probably a few of what ifs. You can say here in hindsight and say what if, but not the ending for us; just the way the game is played.

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