Jason Holder and Jayden Seales on facing England in this test match
Lord's Cricket Ground, London, UK
Lord's Cricket Ground, London, UK
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00:00Jadon Seals here, both played a bit of counter-cricket this season, so we're going to take some questions from the floor and then maybe one or two Zoom questions thereafter.
00:11So if we start with James Cole, away we go.
00:14Hi Jase, the focus is very much on James Anderson here at Laws this week, but how determined are you guys to spoil his farewell party?
00:23Look, we're just here to play a good competitive series, coming up to win this series.
00:29For me, it's not about Jimmy, all due respect.
00:34For me, it's about my contribution to the team and making sure that each and every one of our members are on point at the start of the Test match and us playing some really solid cricket.
00:45I mean, everything else around it is, I guess, secondary in my mind, but more or less, I'm just focused on the game at hand.
00:51And how will you remember him as a cricketer and the battles you've had with him through the years?
00:56Yeah, there's been good battles over the years, no doubt. I'm sure this one will be a good battle as well too.
01:01I'm sure he's got still a lot left in the tank and stuff to prove.
01:07But yeah, I always like playing against great players and he's no doubt one of the great players of the game.
01:13So, looking forward to the contest for one last time.
01:15And as a vast bowler, to carry on doing what he's done for so long, now pushing 42, you can obviously appreciate what an effort that is.
01:23Yeah, without a doubt.
01:25Sorry?
01:26Without a doubt.
01:28Just finally for me, following on from the success in Australia, how important is it to build on that?
01:34Because you've obviously produced an incredible result and a piece of history.
01:39But how determined are you now for this testing going forward?
01:41Can you build on that and follow that up here?
01:43Yeah, it's important, man.
01:46I think the guys took a lot from that Test victory in Australia, obviously.
01:50And for the group, we've been doing some really positive things over the last couple of months.
01:55And I think as a young side, the main thing is just to keep learning.
01:59It's something that I stress on within the group.
02:01Each and every individual just taking what they can take from each experience and just building on it.
02:06We've been faced with different challenges here in England, obviously.
02:10And it's just a matter for each individual to understand them, learn from them and make them better for the next day.
02:16But I think what we have in the dressing room is some special talent.
02:20We've got some special talent within our dressing room.
02:22There's no doubt about it.
02:24It's just a matter for us to play some solid cricket, I just believe.
02:28Jadon, I was lucky enough to grow up in an era when county cricket was blessed with great West Indian bowlers.
02:35Your experience recently in county cricket, could you give us a sense of what that helped you with
02:41in terms of your confidence going into the Test match here?
02:44Yeah, it definitely gave me the confidence to know that I can play in English conditions and do well.
02:49And, obviously, just getting to understand a little bit more about myself and what I can do differently
02:55from playing at home and now playing away.
02:57I know it can help me to get the results for the team.
03:00When you come to Lourdes, so often players from wherever they come from do get a sense that it is different and special.
03:07I wonder if that's a real feeling for you today.
03:10Yeah, of course.
03:11I mean, it's obviously a dream to play at Lourdes.
03:13It's the home of cricket.
03:14And I think, in the moment, it's just about taking in everything that comes with the entire occasion
03:20and just going out there and expressing yourself as much as you can.
03:23It's intriguing, this group of bowlers that you've got here.
03:26I know fans have been really looking forward to seeing it.
03:29I wonder if you could perhaps give us some sense about the particular skill sets and maybe who's the quickest.
03:39I see Jadon is nudging you.
03:41Maybe he's thinking in the past a bit.
03:43I was just thinking before you answered that question.
03:46The fastest would probably be Azari.
03:51I think all of us have our own unique skill set and it's a matter of us coming together collectively
03:56and expressing ourselves, as I said, enjoying the game, playing a good competitive game of cricket
04:01and hopefully we come out on top.
04:03Final question from me, if I may.
04:05I know you're here obviously playing cricket, but you're representing your region and your countries at a time
04:09which has been very difficult for many parts of the region.
04:12We've of course been seeing it on the news over here.
04:14I know you met the King a couple of days ago.
04:17I just wonder what that gives you as West Indian cricketers here,
04:20when so much of the region has really been hit hard, to think what your role is as cricketers.
04:25Perhaps you'd both like to answer that.
04:28Obviously we're not just doing it for ourselves, we're doing it for the people who support us back home
04:32and obviously being hit by the hurricane so drastically, we'll try our very best to make them proud
04:38or feel some sense of pride obviously coming out of a situation like that.
04:43Yes, similar.
04:44I think one of the things that brings West Indian people together is cricket
04:47and they love when we do well.
04:49Obviously the buzz around the T20 World Cup and our success in the recent past
04:53has definitely revived the lives or the cricketing lives of people in the Caribbean
04:58and there are a lot of West Indians here in England as well too
05:01who will definitely be coming out to support us.
05:03But I think any bit of spark or encouragement we can give them is just through our performances
05:10and that's what we pledged as a group and trying to make them happy
05:15and as proud as we possibly can in these tough times.
05:18And the King is a cricket fan? Did you clean that from him?
05:21Pardon?
05:22The King is a cricket fan?
05:24Yes, he definitely is and no doubt he's a fan of the West Indies
05:28after our encounter a couple of days ago.
05:33Jason, obviously four years ago, very different circumstances when you came over here during COVID
05:38and I think it's well known that your presence as a team really helped save ECB's bacon in a tough summer.
05:46Can you just reflect on that summer and obviously very different circumstances,
05:51full house at Lourdes and the difficulties you went through
05:55and obviously remaining competitive, winning a Test as well on that tour?
05:59Yes, firstly it's just good to be out in the open again.
06:03I remember being locked in Manchester for three weeks before the Test series,
06:07which was tough because we stayed at the ground
06:09and then we went down to Southampton for that week, which felt like a week out of prison
06:13and then we went right back into prison after Southampton.
06:16So it was tough, man, and just reflecting on it, you just count your blessings right now.
06:21Obviously there were a lot of lives lost during COVID
06:24and again, it was a similar situation, I guess, with the hurricane that just passed
06:27where the only hope people had or the only impetus that people had was cricket
06:32and they finally got a chance to see some cricket
06:34and put a smile on somebody's face or people's faces in the Caribbean.
06:37So, look, coming back here in England four years later,
06:42we're just looking to take it one step further.
06:44We won one Test match last time out of three.
06:46Two would be a lot better on this trip.
06:49And obviously, as I was saying, you are the holders of the Richards Botham Trophy at the minute
06:54and having won twice in the Caribbean,
06:57clearly it's a particularly strong era for the rivalry at the minute.
07:02Definitely.
07:03Yeah, the last two times England would have toured the West Indies,
07:06the last two times we would have toured England in the recent past,
07:09they would have beaten us.
07:10So I think it's time for someone to break the shackles
07:13and no better time than now for us to come here in England and beat England.
07:17I think that would be an absolutely great feat.
07:21Nothing I don't think this team is short of.
07:23I believe in every individual in this group
07:25and I think that based on what I've seen over the last couple of days
07:28and over the last couple of months,
07:30playing first-class cricket back at home for a few games
07:33and then obviously seeing a few players here now, it's been great.
07:36I've really enjoyed being around the group again.
07:43Jadon, I think you bowled here earlier in the season for Sussex.
07:46How helpful was that to you in getting used to bowling at Lourdes
07:50because it can be a tricky ground for people who aren't regularly here?
07:55Well, it was a totally different pitch to what we've seen
07:58preparing for the Test match
07:59because the pitch for the first-class game was so flat
08:02that it had nothing in it for the bowlers.
08:05So yeah, I hope the Test match isn't that way.
08:08Thank you.
08:13Jason, obviously Jimmy's only going to be playing the first match of the series,
08:17so England's all-time greatest bowler will not be involved in that.
08:21In the second and third games,
08:23does that improve your chances of coming away with a series win, do you think?
08:28Well, again, I don't really want to single out Jimmy as their only player.
08:33England is a collective group and they've all won to this election.
08:40I just don't think it's a situation where I want to downplay others
08:44and pick up other players more than the others.
08:50We're just here to play cricket.
08:52Whatever team England puts out, we're looking to compete against them and beat them.
08:56That's as simple as I could possibly put it.
08:58West Indies have been through a renewal, a rejuvenation of their teams
09:04in white and red ball cricket over recent years.
09:08When these major figures, the big characters,
09:12who've been around the team for a long time, when they leave,
09:15is that a distraction at all?
09:20I can only take it back to my experience of playing with Shibna Rainshaw on the pole, for instance.
09:25It was a bit of a sweet feeling in the sense where
09:29someone who's done so much for West Indies cricket
09:33is just being pinched to wake up that he's actually finishing.
09:38Taking myself back to that moment,
09:42it's just like, well, you're losing such a powerful figure in the dressing room.
09:46I guess no doubt it would be the same thing for England,
09:48but as everything else, we've got to move on many times.
09:52It's unfortunate we can't play cricket forever
09:55or we can't play professional sport forever.
09:57At some point, we've got to close the curtains.
10:00Some people get to do it on their own terms and some people don't.
10:05It's just unfortunate sometimes when you don't get that chance after playing for so long.
10:10Just going back to that experience of me playing with Shiv,
10:14it was great to be in the dressing room with him
10:16and just learn so much from him.
10:19Jason, I was just going to ask about missing the Tour of Australia,
10:22how hard that was, possibly even after the event
10:24when you were obviously watching the famous win at the Gabba,
10:27and also more generally, what can be done to actually help players
10:31not be put in that decision where they've got to decide
10:34between international cricket and earning a living?
10:39Look, I guess over a period of time, there will be a solution.
10:45Whatever that may be.
10:47I guess so far, we haven't stumbled upon the solution,
10:51but it is what it is.
10:53You see a couple of Kiwi players just turned down central contracts,
10:57a couple of South African players turned down central contracts.
11:01It is where the game is moving.
11:03I guess it's not my job to find a solution.
11:06Each and every person has their own personal decision to make.
11:10I was just so happy for the boys when they did what they did in Australia.
11:15For me, it gave me a renewed energy to come back to the group
11:21and try to be a part of something special again.
11:24I was really happy to play a few first-class games in the Caribbean this year.
11:28I haven't played probably for the last four years.
11:31It was good to have two first-class games
11:33and then come over here and play a couple of first-class games
11:35here in the English summer.
11:37All in all, I'm just happy that I've been able to still get the body up and going
11:43and being up for the challenge here.
11:46I've missed Test cricket.
11:48This is the first Test match in a long time,
11:50so I'm looking forward to it.
11:52Sorry, can I just ask about your time at Worcestershire?
11:55Overseas players come and go.
11:57Sometimes they just drop in and drop out,
11:59but it looked from afar like you found a real connection with that club.
12:02Can you just tell us a bit about that spell?
12:04I appreciate it was obviously marred with a tragedy at the same time,
12:07and that was obviously tough,
12:09but it felt like the connection there went deeper
12:11than the overseas player dropping in and out.
12:13Yes, it was a hell of an experience, to be honest.
12:16It gave me new energy in terms of my career.
12:20I got into a dressing room where I just felt loved.
12:23The love that the boys showed me was second to none, to be fair.
12:28I was just really happy for that experience.
12:31Thoroughly enjoyed it.
12:33I'm just grateful for Worcester for having me.
12:35Again, thanks to Alan Richardson and his crew.
12:39Hopefully I can get back there maybe in the not-too-distant future.
12:42I'm not sure about the four-day cricket,
12:44with the pitches being so flat!
12:47Hopefully I can get back to playing a few more competitive games
12:50in the not-too-distant future.
12:52We're going to take one more in the room.
12:55Jadon, Jason talking there about the tension between Test cricket
13:00and other franchise stuff.
13:02Can you just go back to that last Test series against England,
13:05which you played a big part in?
13:08Tell us what it meant to you to play a full Test series,
13:11take wickets and beat England.
13:13Yes, that was an unreal experience for me,
13:15especially being so young and coming into a team,
13:18playing against probably one of the better teams in the world.
13:21Obviously they were struggling at that time,
13:23but still, it's England, it'll be a big occasion,
13:26playing against them in a full series at home.
13:29Doing well for the team is obviously a big thing.
13:32Getting the result at the end of the series was even better for us
13:36and for me as a collective.
13:40OK, we're going to take a question from Zoom.
13:46Terry, would you like to ask your question?
13:51Yes, thank you.
13:53Good day, gentlemen.
13:55Obviously this has always been a big series,
14:00West Indies-England Test cricket.
14:04There's a feeling, though, that this time around,
14:08the buzz is somewhat lacking.
14:11Do you get that sense?
14:13Or being in the environment,
14:17are you oblivious to what is going on around you?
14:21Is that something that you think about at all,
14:24the excitement of England-West Indies Test cricket?
14:29No, I just feel it's very normal, to be fair.
14:34Everybody's upbeat for the series,
14:36and we're looking forward to the challenge against England.
14:39It's always a really good contest between the two teams,
14:42and I expect nothing different in this series.
14:44We're just looking to play some really solid cricket.
14:48You have Jimmy Harham as part of your set-up,
14:51massive experience in England,
14:53massive experience with the West Indies.
14:56Has he contributed to the coaching set-up
15:00for the West Indies, in your opinion?
15:03Yes, I think Jimmy has done an outstanding job.
15:06It's not the first time we've worked with Jimmy.
15:08I think he has a lot of knowledge, as you said before,
15:11and it's good to have that perspective
15:13from someone who's played the game as well
15:15and been successful for West Indies.
15:18He's been very, very beneficial in the sense
15:20where he's helped us tactically
15:22in terms of getting our mindset right
15:26and just being very, very selective and disciplined
15:29in terms of our approach to batting.
15:33And finally, you've got some young players in,
15:36and when I say young, I mean inexperienced,
15:39because some of them are maybe a little bit long in the tooth,
15:43but they have started their test careers.
15:46Sorry to stick with you, Jason,
15:49but what do you do in terms of putting your arm around them
15:54and getting their mindset right for this format?
15:59For me, it's just making each and every individual...
16:12Sorry, for me, it's just about making each
16:14and every individual feel comfortable.
16:17I'm quite relaxed in the dressing room, to say.
16:21I've had so many different individual chats with players,
16:25trying to just understand them,
16:27so that when we go on the field
16:29and I get a better sense of who they are as a person,
16:32I could probably be in a better position
16:34to help them when need be.
16:36But the boys have been so receptive
16:38and just so welcoming of the information that I've shared.
16:42I've learned a lot from them personally as well, too.
16:45It's all a learning experience for me as well, too,
16:47but as time goes on,
16:50hopefully they'll learn from different scenarios
16:53and experiences that they'll encounter
16:55and just make them better cricketers than they came here.
17:01Thank you very much, boys. I'm wishing you all the best.
17:04I hope you make his Royal Highness very happy
17:07with a Test Series win,
17:09now that you see he's a West Indies fan.
17:12Thank you. We're going to call an end to it there.
17:14Thank you very much, everyone.