Holder trashes reports Taylor, Roach refused to bowl

HOBART, CMC:

West Indies captain Jason Holder has rubbished media reports claiming new-ball bowlers Jerome Taylor and Kemar Roach refused to bowl from certain ends during the opening Test in Hobart.

Reports said Taylor and Roach told Holder they would not bowl from the Derwent River southern end on Thursday's opening day at Bellerive Oval, leaving the young skipper with little or no options as Australia's batsmen dominated.

However, Holder refuted these claims, pointing out he had taken the decision to rotate the faster bowlers from the opposite end because of the difficulty of running into the wind while operating from the southern end.

"I saw some comments made (in the media after) I had a conversation with Tom Moody (media pundit) after the first day's play about bowlers reluctant to bowl from a particular end," Holder told media here.

"That wasn't the case. The case was basically that the fast bowlers struggled from the bottom end, coming into the wind, and I just felt it easier to rotate them at the top end coming down the slope.

"Obviously, after losing Shannon (Gabriel) we were a bowler short so it was easier to rotate the three fast bowlers from the top."

Holder said his side's slow over-rate also became a consideration as West Indies were also lagging far behind the required pace at one point.

The Caribbean side were fined by match referee Chris Broad for being three overs short of their target.

"It was not a situation where people were reluctant to bowl, it was never that case. I just felt best to rotate the fast bowlers from that end coming down the slope."

Holder said improvement among the bowlers was imperative.

The second Test bowls off in Melbourne on Boxing Day.