West Indies can now defeat top teams in Tests, says Jason Holder

West Indies skipper Jason Holder on Tuesday (July 7) said that his team has improved a lot as a Test outfit and can now challenge any top team in the world in the longest format of the game.

West Indies are set to lock horns against England in a three-Test series starting Wednesday at the Ageas Bowl. The match is significant as it will mark the resumption of cricket after the suspension of all cricketing activities in March due to the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.

Former West Indies captain and batting great Brian Lara has said Holder`s troops will have to try and finish the game inside four days as they won`t be able to attain a positive result if the Test matches against England go into the fifth and final day.

"This West Indies team has had really good results in the last three years. We can win against top sides and we can win series against top sides as well. England will come at us hard. We expect a tough contest and the onus is on us to dethrone England in their own backyard and it`s not going to be easy," Holder said during a video conference on the eve of the first Test.

Holder also talked about the use of saliva on the ball imposed by the ICC to curb the spread of coronavirus, Holder said it was not a problem in the warm-up game but they will need to see how it will affect the performance of the bowlers in the first Test.

"The only thing we can do is put the body sweat on it (ball). There is nothing else we can do. As to the impact, it can only be told when the series starts. We have tried it in the warm-up games and it hasn`t gone too badly for us. Lets see what happens on the field. Conditions will have a lot of impact. It will be a trial and error in this series," Holder said.

Holder is currently world's leading all-rounder and has become the first West Indian since Garfield Sobers to achieve this feat. "It feels good to be in elite company, I have had tons of conversations with him and he is so positive. He is one of those guys who will put his arm around you and nurture you," said Holder of Sobers.