Holder urges Windies to discard ‘territorial’ mindset after debacle

Fans and experts alike are left in utter shock as the West Indies failed to qualify for the upcoming ODI World Cup in India. The Caribbeans will miss out on the showpiece event for the first time in history.

Speaking shortly after the two-times champions suffered a comprehensive seven-wicket defeat against Scotland in their Super Six clash at the qualification tournament in Zimbabwe on Saturday, Holder said, "This is probably one of the lowest points I've had with the team.

"But, you know, there are still a lot of positives. I was really happy for Nicholas Pooran, the way he played through this entire competition. And, it's good to see some of the younger guys get an opportunity on the big stage."

Cricket West Indies (CWI), the governing body of the team, consists of six associations, namely Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Trinidad & Tobago and Windward Islands.

Holder appealed to his teammates to shun "territorial" mindset and unite "as a region" for the good of the sport.

"It's (cricket) not an individual thing or a territorial thing. We've got to come together as a region… and really, really think about how we want to go forward as a group and make it happen," one of the leading all-rounders said during the post-match presser on Saturday, adding that no short-term patchwork will help West Indies cricket and changes will have to take place at the grassroots.

Indicating that he saw this day coming, Holder said the West Indies team was seeing a "fluctuation" in performances over the last few years.

"We just didn't play well enough. We haven't been playing well enough maybe over the past couple of years.

 "There have been too many fluctuations between good performances and bad performances (in the last few years) and it's a matter for us to understand where we are and all of us need to put our hands on the deck to make it (turnaround) happen."