Jason Holder surpasses Brian Lara in captaincy record as West Indies keep chasing record intact

West Indies’ hard fought win over England at Southampton has now put Jason Holder at the joint third spot in the list of most successful West Indies captains with 11 wins from his 33 Tests.

For a team that dominated world cricket at one point, there has been little to cheer about over the past 25 years for West Indies, especially in Test cricket. Ever since losing their unbeaten tag in 1995, Windies were unbeaten in 29 consecutive Test series over a period of 15 years, West Indies cricket touched the abyss before making a small comeback over the past few years.

Given their dominance in the 1980s the two men who led them in this highly successful period have the best captaincy record. Clive Lloyd has won 36 matches and lost 12 out of the 74 Tests he captained the Windies and remains the most successful captain in terms of matches won.

Vivian Richards, who won 27 and lost 8 of the 50 Tests he captained is placed second although his win percentage is higher than Lloyd’s and second only to the legendary captain Frank Worrell.

Richie Richardson is placed third with 11 wins from the 24 Tests he captained but he is not alone on the third spot anymore. West Indies’ hard fought win over England at Southampton has now put Jason Holder at the joint third spot with 11 wins from his 33 Tests as captain.

It is a remarkable achievement for the all-rounder who was handed captaincy at a very young age and had to endure severe losses towards the beginning of his tenure. Holder though never gave in and is now seeing a crop of youngster emerge as they fight it out against top opposition.

The victory has taken Holder ahead of Brian Lara, who won just 10 of the 47 Test matches he captained.

The other great achievement for this West Indies was keeping a great chasing record intact. Chasing 200 runs for victory at Southampton, this was the 61st time they were chasing 200 or less in the fourth innings and had never lost a match before. The victory keeps that record intact as they have now won 55 times and have drawn 6 times while chasing 200 or less.

The victory was also the first time in 20 years that West Indies has won the opening Test of a series on English soil.