Jason Holder opens up on opting out of West Indies vs Australia Test series

Jason Holder on Thursday opened up on why he decided to skip the West Indies vs Australia Test series.

During a chat with ESPNcricinfo, the all-rounder said, 'By no means is this me turning my back on Test cricket. It's not curtains for me in Test cricket by any means. It's my first time going through something like this and I felt that it was necessary to be as honest and as open with CWI as I possibly can. It was a very difficult decision: I just feel as though this is the right cricketing decision for me at this time.'

'But as much as I love Test cricket, I want to give myself the best chance of playing in that World Cup. I felt it was probably best to prioritise and focus on playing as much T20 cricket leading up to that as possible. I will probably sleep a little bit better knowing that I've given myself the best opportunity to do that,' Holder added.

Kyle Mayers also opted not to play the Test series due to the same reason. As a result, Cricket West Indies was forced to name 7 uncapped players in the 15-member squad for the series vs Australia.

The board said Wednesday that the team will again be led by Kraigg Brathwaite, with fast bowler Alzarri Joseph named as the new vice-captain.

The uncapped players are batter Zachary McCaskie, wicketkeeper Tevin Imlach; allrounders Justin Greaves, Kavem Hodge and Kevin Sinclair and fast bowlers Akeem Jordan and Shamar Joseph.