Jun 11, 2013 Part five: Allan Donald on the most intimidating bowlers he has seen: this week, Michael Holding
Produced by: Gokul Chakravarthy; Interviewer: Nagraj Gollapudi
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Greg Chappell's remarkable Test average of 53.86 was made against attacks full of these guys at their peak. And his figures do not even include his 14 Supertests against them in which he averaged 56 !
Overall in the history of test cricket I have never seen 2 cricketers as close to each other as Michael Holding and Andy Roberts.Great batsman of the 1970's like Gavaskar and the Chappell brothers as well as Dennis Lillee,arguably the best paceman of all rated Andy Roberts the best paceman they ever faced while experts like John Woodcock or the late Ray Lindwall and Imran Khan chose Holding as the best ever West Indian pace bowler.Even a whisker does not seperate them.In an all-time 11 Holding may just win with his superior pace to combine with Marshall,Wasim Akram,Hadlee or Lilllee.Overall Wasim Akram and Michael Holding rolled into one would make the most perfect pace bowler.
I had the pleasure of seeing this legend bowl many times; against the best at the time, Gavaskar, Amarnath, the Chappells, Border, Miandad, Malik, Boycott, Gower, Gooch, Crowe.The toughest battles were actually against the regional islands when he really bowled quick! The thought of him running in still makes the hair stand on end and brings goosebumps. I have seen Thompson, Lillee, Hogg, Lawson, Lee, Roberts, Garner, Croft, Marshall, Bishop, Garner, Clarke, Hungry Walsh and Cuddy Walsh, Patterson, Daniel, Ambrose, Snow, Dilley, Willis, Khan, Waqar, Wasim, Aktar. He was the fastest I have seen but his run-up and action were mesmerising and one always felt he was bowling within himself and could throttle up if he wanted to. As a kid we all pictured ourselves running in and bowling like Whispering Death. Even today this phenomenal athlete looks fit! Still want to run like him...
Had Holding's career not been affected by injury and had he put more effort into his bowling Holding could well have been the best fast bowler ever.He had more natural talent than even Dennis Lillee.Andy Roberts was more versatile but still Holding had a more natural action.Holding's perfect action enabled him to do everything with the ball.Infact in Packer cricket at one time batsman evaded Holding and opted to face Andy Roberts.In 1981-82 in Australia Holding arguably bowled better than any Carribean paceman in test cricket in Australia.Marshall or Roberts had more craft but at his best Holding may well have bettered them.To me in India in the series 1983-84 he was the best paceman ,bowling superbly at a reduced speed.
No fast bowler in the history of the game has posessed such a perfect action or such consistent speed through the air.Holding was simply a Rolls Royce who displayed the effortlessness of a swan swimming.The ball whizzed through like a bullet shot from a gun when Holding bowled but was delivered with the grace of a pianist tapping his notes. No paceman ever exhibited such feline grace combined with such blistering speed.Holding could cut ,swing and bounce a cricket ball in any conditions.
His over to Boycott at Kingston in 1981 was arguably the best ever in test cricket and so was his spell of 14-149 at the Oval in 1976.His feat at the Oval was achieved on the most docile of surfaces where Holding displayed his mastery like a surgeon performing an operation.It is impossible to separate Holding with Andy Roberts,who was the most versatile of all Carribean quickies.Holding and Roberts combined made the perfect fast bowler.
the best fast bowler ever with the best fast bowlers action. dont know what he was like when facing him, but to see him live phew. i was in Barbados when he bowled that magical over to boycs which is often talked about.
Michael Holding and Viv Richards, my two fovorite West Indian cricketers of all time. I had the pleasure of seeing them on several occasions and see Holding bowled to Richards. Richards did tried to hook him and top edged it for six.
There can be no other joy to cricket aficionados than recall the greatest and most glorious Windies reign of 70's and 80's and no other salivary spectacle than Holding's greased lope to the crease! They don't make cricketers like them anymore. I was blessed to meet some of them at Chennai when they played a test there in Dec'1983...Marshall, Roberts, Holding, Viv, Greenidge, Haynes, Lloyd. Name and fame just rolls off the tongue. I think Sunny made 236 in that test and also that it was Roberts last test match.
No need for the tag west Indian. There is no other bowler in any of the team. He is the Rolls Royce of Cricket....
Regards Sriram
A truly outstanding fast bowler, who was just as elegant and graceful as he was lethal. His ability to easily and constantly deliver thunderbolts at amazing speeds was a function of his athleticism, his rhythm and his focused tenacity. To track Holding through the course of his run up from an instinctively easy almost innocuous beginning to a climax in a blindingly express finish was to observe a wonder of nature and a marvel of the ages. His super human feats in 1976 in which he single-handedly destroyed the best of England with 14/149 on a parched slow dust bowl and his terrifyingly outstanding over to Boycott in 1981 has etched him forever in the echelons of cricket history as one of the fiercest and finest fast bowler of all time. Batsmen trembled with trepidation as they anxiously stood to face him, while umpires celebrated in the wake of his delivery overjoyed in the fact they did not have to. Thank you Mike for a wonderful career and for many fine moments that will dwell in