'We're just one good day away from a turnaround' - Holder

Jason Holder looks, acts and speaks like a captain. He is thoughtful about the game, firm in his own opinions, and speaks his mind. He is only 24, but he pulls his players into line when necessary. He also has the potential to be the most important player in the West Indies line-up: he has played only 11 Tests, but already has a Test century and two fifties to his name, and offers consistency with the ball if not bags of wickets.

But it is a hard road ahead for Holder, who so far has captained his team in three Tests for three losses. In those matches, he himself has taken just three wickets at 47.33 and scored 97 runs at 16.16. But those Tests have all been away from home in challenging conditions, in Sri Lanka and then Hobart. There had been glimpses of promise from his team during those Tests, but the challenge is to create more than just glimpses.

"It's not a burden, I'm enjoying the challenge," Holder said of the captaincy, ahead of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. "It'll take time before we get the results we're looking for. We need to build and keep building. We need to put something on the table that we can build on. At the present time we've been fluctuating with a good performance here and then a bad performance there.