Although insisting that he respected the decisions, legendary West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding believes the tour of England could be counted as a missed opportunity for the duo of Darren Bravo and Shimron Hetmyer.

Hetmyer and Bravo joined bowler Keemo Paul in rejecting the offer to join a 25-member squad to tour England this month.  With the UK being one of the countries most badly ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic, the trio insisted that they did not feel it was safe to take the risk associated with going on the tour, despite safety assurances given by the England Cricket Board (ECB).  The matches will take place in front of empty stadiums and players will be kept in an enclosed and heavily quarantined environment.

With both players, despite their prodigious talent, struggling for firm footing when it comes to the West Indies squad, Holding believes the match could have provided useful hitting time.

“I think it’s unfortunate as far as West Indies cricket is concerned.  I’m not going to tell anyone that they should be going to England, because the COVID-19 is around.  Someone may get sick or even worse,” Holding said on youtube podcast Mikey – No Holding back.

“But at the same time, I think it’s unfortunate for the West Indies team because these guys have quite a bit of talent and they’ll be missed," he added.

“I’m sorry that Bravo in particular isn’t going, because I think he needs to resuscitate his career.  He started off so brilliantly, everyone thought he was going to be another great West Indian batsman but he hasn’t really fulfilled that.  I think the more cricket he can play now, especially with the West Indies, is the more he has a chance of getting on track and showing everyone the great player he could be,” Holding said.

“Hetmyer is another talented player and again I’m sorry that he is not going to get more opportunities to express himself, but I’m not blaming them for not going.”