The Great Game Called Cricket...

Michael Holding

West Indies Full name Michael Anthony Holding

Born February 16, 1954, Half Way Tree, Kingston, Jamaica

Current age 55 years 207 days

Major teams West Indies, Canterbury, Derbyshire, Jamaica, Lancashire, Tasmania

Batting style Right-hand bat

Bowling style Right-arm fast

Other Commentator
Batting | Bowling | Career statistics | Profile | Notes | Latest Articles | Latest Photos
Batting and fielding averages Mat Inns NO Runs HS Ave BF SR 100 50 6s Ct St
Tests 60 76 10 910 73 13.78 0 6 36 22 0
ODIs 102 42 11 282 64 9.09 377 74.80 0 2 30 0
First-class 222 283 43 3600 80 15.00 0 14 125 0
List A 249 153 25 1575 69 12.30 0 7 81 0
Bowling averages Mat Inns Balls Runs Wkts BBI BBM Ave Econ SR 4w 5w 10
Tests 60 113 12680 5898 249 8/92 14/149 23.68 2.79 50.9 11 13 2
ODIs 102 102 5473 3034 142 5/26 5/26 21.36 3.32 38.5 5 1 0
First-class 222 38877 18233 778 8/92 23.43 2.81 49.9 39 5
List A 249 12662 7074 343 8/21 8/21 20.62 3.35 36.9 9 3 0
Career statistics Test debut Australia v West Indies at Brisbane, Nov 28-Dec 2, 1975 scorecard
Last Test New Zealand v West Indies at Wellington, Feb 20-24, 1987 scorecard
ODI debut England v West Indies at Scarborough, Aug 26, 1976 scorecard
Last ODI England v West Indies at Melbourne, Jan 30, 1987 scorecard
First-class span 1972/73 - 1989
List A span 1975/76 - 1989
Profile
Wisden overview
It began intimidatingly far away. He turned, and began the most elegant long-striding run of them all, feet kissing the turf silently, his head turning gently and ever so slightly from side to side, rhythmically, like that of a cobra hypnotising its prey. Good batsmen tended not to watch him all the way lest they became mesmerised. To the umpires he was malevolent stealth personified so they christened him Whispering Death. No-one in the game has bowled faster. His over to Geoff Boycott in the cauldron of Kensington Oval early in 1981 has gone down in history as the finest, fastest, most ferocious gambit of all time. Five years earlier, towards the end of the drought-ridden summer of 1976, The Oval had become a wasteland, parched beyond recognition, with slow flat heart-breaking pitches, and it was on this, in the final Test of the season, through the simple device of bowling ramrod-straight at high pace and to a full length, that he conjured 14 wickets for 149, the finest match figures ever by a West Indian. Now in the commentary box, he is gentle but fearless, a rational critic who beguiles with his deep fruity measured Jamaican twang. Mike Selvey

Notes
Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1977

Tasmania First-Class Career Span: 1982-83