‘It gets us going’: West Indies captain Jason Holder responds to Geoffrey’s ‘outspoken’ comments

England captain Boycott described the West Indies team as 'very ordinary, average cricketers'

Jason Holder said his team are ready to take on England (Getty)

The West Indies captain Jason Holder has said his team will be fired up by the recent comments of former England captain Geoffrey Boycott that they were a bunch of “very ordinary, average cricketers”. England are strong favourites to win the three-Test series that starts in Barbados on Wednesday, but the recent history between these two sides should underline the dangers of writing off Holder’s side.

It was four years ago that Colin Graves, the chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, described the West Indies as “mediocre” opposition, a comment that fuelled Denesh Ramdin’s side on their way to a famous five-wicket in Barbados. Criticism seems to drive this side, and while Holder had not read Boycott’s comments in the Daily Telegraph, he was extremely comfortable with them.

“It’s funny you should say,” he said. “I saw Colin a few days ago and we had a good giggle about that. We always keep in contact, and he’s a really good guy. I’ve not seen or heard the comments by Boycott, but it’s normal. We expect this sort of thing. It gets us going. We’re looking forward to it.”

England captain Joe Root was less pleased to hear of his fellow Yorkshireman’s intervention. “It’s not like Geoffrey to be outspoken, is it?” he joked. “It doesn’t surprise me that he’s said something like that. But we are very aware that’s not the case.”

Holder hailed his pace attack as the key to the series. In Shannon Gabriel and Holder himself, the West Indies boast two of the top 10 fast bowlers in the world rankings, and in their last 10 innings on home soil have bowled their opponents out for an average total of 185. “What you've seen of this attack in the last couple of series is consistency,” said Holder. “We’ve done a hell of a job of trying to take 20 wickets more often than not. Our batting has probably let us down on a few occasions.”