Pooran, 25, has played just three first-class matches, the last of which came all the way back in 2014. The swashbuckling left-hander is a regular in both West Indies white-ball sides – he averages a shade under 50 in ODI cricket – and is familiar face at franchise T20 tournaments all over the world. Since 2016, Pooran has played in the Caribbean Premier League, Indian Premier League, T20 Blast, Bangladesh Premier League and Pakistan Super League.

In a wide-ranging interview with John Stern in the most recent Wisden Cricket Monthly, Holding, when remarking on the performance of the West Indies Test side in England earlier this year noted that they were without three of their most talented batsmen.

Holding said: “They were competitive against England without, in my opinion, three of their better batsmen. Darren Bravo and Shimron Hetmyer chose not to come and they didn’t select Nicholas Pooran, who I think is very talented and should be playing Test cricket. If they all played I think the series would have been a lot closer and, in fact, I have an inkling that West Indies might have won because runs on the board was their problem.”

Pooran was recently picked in West Indies’ T20I squad for their upcoming tour of New Zealand but left out of the Test group. Cricket West Indies chief selector Roger Harper recently hinted that despite his omission from the Test squad, Pooran may be afforded the opportunity to showcase his red-ball credentials in the four-day games that priced the Test series.

“There was a lot of consideration given to Nicholas Pooran; we are still looking at it and I am sure as we move forward, Pooran will have an opportunity as well. He is in the T20 squad and he has expressed willingness to play in four-day games that will be available during the tour.