Michael Vaughan regrets Jason Holder's suspension for slow over-rate

It perhaps could not have been more ironical than this. The second Test match between the Windies and England in North Sound, Antigua, was over inside three days with the hosts thumping Joe Root’s men by 10 wickets to bag the series. However, Windies captain Jason Holder faced flak as he was suspended for the third Test match at St Lucia for slow over-rates. Besides the suspension, Holder was also fined 40 per cent of his match fee for committing the second minor over-rate offence while the players were fined 20 per cent of their match fees.

The Caribbeans surprised the cricketing world with their much-improved performance to humble a much higher-ranked England in both Tests they have played so far. Holder led from the front to smash an unbeaten double hundred in the first game in Bridgetown which the Windies won by 381 runs.

England, on the other hand, haven’t managed to score 250 even once in the four innings they have batted so far in the series with the lowest score of 77 in the first game. This is the first Test series win that the Windies have registered over England in a decade.

Not good for cricket, says Vaughan

Former England captain Michael Vaughan regretted the outcome that Holder faced in the second Test and said in a tweet that the skipper of a side that hammered the opponents faced a ban for slow over rate when the entire game was over in just 246 overs, making it roughly 2.6 days of cricket. The former cricketer said the incident showed that the game didn’t help itself though his take led to a mixed reaction with many fans saying the rule was a rule irrespective of the match results.

246 over Test Match .. that amounts to 2.6 days of Cricket .. A team hammers the opposition & plays great Test cricket yet the Captain gets a ban for Slow over rate .. @Jaseholder98 can find himself very very unlucky on this occasion .. !! The game really doesn’t help itself …

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) February 3, 2019

Windies vice-captain Kraigg Brathwaite is expected to lead the side in the third Test beginning February 9. However, the loss of Holder could be a major blow to the hosts’ quest to make it 3-0 for he had been the series’ leading scorer and also picked seven wickets. Holder was also found guilty of minor over-rate against Sri Lanka in a Test in Barbados in June last year.

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