Harsh Thakor
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Michael Holding was simply the Rolls Royce of fast bowlers.No paceman ever posessed his silken elegance or grace resembling a ballad dancer.He could create the impact of lightning when bowling but still posessed the grace of an eagle flying through the air.In terms of consistent speed through the air he surpassed every pace bowler and for perfection in bowling action surpassed everybody.Holding blended the speed of a gazelle with the technical skill of an architect and the beauty of a rose blossoming.Holding simply took the poetry of pace bowling to a new height.
His bowling of 14-149 at the Oval in 1976 is probably the best bowling exhibition ever in the history of the game.On the flattest of tracks he skittled through the opposition with all his victims either leg before or bowled.The spell revealed cricketing art in regions of the divine.Never in the history of the game was speed.control and accuracy blended so perfectly.In england in 1976 he was the most prolific wicket taker with 28 scalps.In 1981 against England at home he bowled what was arguably the best over ever in test cricket to Geoff Boycott sending his stumps cartwheeling of the final delivery.
Sadly he was best by injury for a great part of his career but was still relatively successful in Australia and India.In WSC in West Indies in 5 supertests he had the most scalps by any bowler.In 1981-82 in Australia he was arguably the bet pace bowler in the world with 24 scalps.He seemed to have perfected the art of pace bowling more than any overseas paceman ever in Australia when at a slightly slower pace moved the ball both ways with a perfect length and line.In India in 1983-84 he was outstanding with 30p scalps displaying mastery of movement and variations at a reduced pace.Till the final test he was the most prolific bowler,ahead of the great Malcolm Marshall.Even if not as explosive and quick as Marshall from a technical point of me in my opinion Holding was the best bowler of the series.In England in 1980 and he gave flashes of his old brilliance but was beset by injury and weather.He was also hardly succcesful in a home series versus India in 1983.In 1984-5 in Australia he bowled a magnificient spell of 6-21 at Perth but sadly only played 3 tests in that series.What went against Michael was that in many series he was overshadowed by contemporary fast bowlers like Colin Croft in Australia in 1979-80,at home v England in 1981 and Garner in England in 1980.
He retired with an average of 23.68 and 249 scalps in 60 tests at a strike rate of 50.7.He was also very economical in ODI's,surpassing Andy Roberts and Malcolm Marshall.For a significant part of his career he was overshadowed by Amdy Roberts at the start and Malcolm Marshall towards the end.Many great batsmen found Andy Roberts a more daunting proposition to face like Gavaskar ,Barry Richards and the Chappell brothers.However Holding had his fans.Imran Khan ranked him the best fast bowler he ever saw in terms of bowling action while Len Hutton rated him the best of the great Indian quartet.Majid Khan and Asif Iqbal chose Holding in their all-time xi as well as Mike Procter.
In my view for pure natural ability he could have been amongst the the top 5 of all paceman and arguably the most naturally talented of the Calypso speedsters.Roberts was craftier,Marshall more innovative,Garner and Ambrose more accurate and Clarke quicker but at his best in a complete package Holding displayed perfection in pace bowling skill more than any Carribean superstar.Arguably at his very best he may have been more lethal than anyone.In WSC supertests in Australia there were games when batsmen would much rather face upto Roberts than Holding!
I would back him to have a place amongst the top dozen paceman of all.
Just marginally edged by the likes of Marshall,Lillee,Wasim ,Mcgrath ,Steyn and Ambrose and about on par with Alan Donald ,Andy Roberts or Waqar Younus.Amazingly John Woodcock ranks him the best of West Indian paceman in his 100 best cricketers but that is erroneous.Anyway a certainty amongst the top 100 cricketers of all time.
His bowling of 14-149 at the Oval in 1976 is probably the best bowling exhibition ever in the history of the game.On the flattest of tracks he skittled through the opposition with all his victims either leg before or bowled.The spell revealed cricketing art in regions of the divine.Never in the history of the game was speed.control and accuracy blended so perfectly.In england in 1976 he was the most prolific wicket taker with 28 scalps.In 1981 against England at home he bowled what was arguably the best over ever in test cricket to Geoff Boycott sending his stumps cartwheeling of the final delivery.
Sadly he was best by injury for a great part of his career but was still relatively successful in Australia and India.In WSC in West Indies in 5 supertests he had the most scalps by any bowler.In 1981-82 in Australia he was arguably the bet pace bowler in the world with 24 scalps.He seemed to have perfected the art of pace bowling more than any overseas paceman ever in Australia when at a slightly slower pace moved the ball both ways with a perfect length and line.In India in 1983-84 he was outstanding with 30p scalps displaying mastery of movement and variations at a reduced pace.Till the final test he was the most prolific bowler,ahead of the great Malcolm Marshall.Even if not as explosive and quick as Marshall from a technical point of me in my opinion Holding was the best bowler of the series.In England in 1980 and he gave flashes of his old brilliance but was beset by injury and weather.He was also hardly succcesful in a home series versus India in 1983.In 1984-5 in Australia he bowled a magnificient spell of 6-21 at Perth but sadly only played 3 tests in that series.What went against Michael was that in many series he was overshadowed by contemporary fast bowlers like Colin Croft in Australia in 1979-80,at home v England in 1981 and Garner in England in 1980.
He retired with an average of 23.68 and 249 scalps in 60 tests at a strike rate of 50.7.He was also very economical in ODI's,surpassing Andy Roberts and Malcolm Marshall.For a significant part of his career he was overshadowed by Amdy Roberts at the start and Malcolm Marshall towards the end.Many great batsmen found Andy Roberts a more daunting proposition to face like Gavaskar ,Barry Richards and the Chappell brothers.However Holding had his fans.Imran Khan ranked him the best fast bowler he ever saw in terms of bowling action while Len Hutton rated him the best of the great Indian quartet.Majid Khan and Asif Iqbal chose Holding in their all-time xi as well as Mike Procter.
In my view for pure natural ability he could have been amongst the the top 5 of all paceman and arguably the most naturally talented of the Calypso speedsters.Roberts was craftier,Marshall more innovative,Garner and Ambrose more accurate and Clarke quicker but at his best in a complete package Holding displayed perfection in pace bowling skill more than any Carribean superstar.Arguably at his very best he may have been more lethal than anyone.In WSC supertests in Australia there were games when batsmen would much rather face upto Roberts than Holding!
I would back him to have a place amongst the top dozen paceman of all.
Just marginally edged by the likes of Marshall,Lillee,Wasim ,Mcgrath ,Steyn and Ambrose and about on par with Alan Donald ,Andy Roberts or Waqar Younus.Amazingly John Woodcock ranks him the best of West Indian paceman in his 100 best cricketers but that is erroneous.Anyway a certainty amongst the top 100 cricketers of all time.
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