Staff Writer – Archi
In West Indies cricket news, former West Indies pacer Michael Holding used to be feared all over the cricketing world during his playing days.
Today the great pacer sees South African pacer Dale Steyn as the best in the business.
“He (Steyn) is the best… He bowls well in all conditions, not only in conditions which suit fast bowlers,” Holding told Indian media recently.
Talking about pace bowling, the all-time great said, “Speed is important, but so is control… If you don’t bowl in the right areas, speed won’t be of much consequence.
You need to have control. A smooth action helps, for you can then have a long career. Fast bowling is hard work, so you need guys willing to work hard.”
But Holding confessed that he never used to train too much during his playing time. “I never trained much when I was a youngster, but I made sure I was fit and, so, would run a lot. When I played for the West Indies, I had to follow the protocol. Then, I also had to do things like weight training,” he remarked.
Michael Holding. Photo courtesy tvnewsroom.co.uk
He used to use the nets to address problems. “If you have an issue, sort it out there (nets),” he said.
Looking back, Holding rates Andy Roberts and Malcolm Marshall as the best among West Indian pacers.
However, in spite of creating a fear among the batsmen, Holding said it was important to respect batsmen. “You need to respect all opponents… I played against some great batsmen… Ian and Greg Chappell, Allan Border… Majid Khan, Javed Miandad… Gundappa Viswanath, Mohinder Amarnath and, of course, Sunil Gavaskar… Geoffrey Boycott, Graham Gooch, David Gower. They can all be very dangerous on their days,” he said.
Holding, however, felt all his fellow great pacers during his time like Holder, Joel Garner, Andy Roberts, Colin Croft and others formed a good team for West Indies. “We complemented each other… It’s just remarkable that five of us were there at the same time,” he said.
Dale Steyn. Photo courtesy crickethighlights.com
Although he himself never likes the T20 format, but if given a choice to bowl in this era, he would have taken it as a challenge. “I would have looked at it (T20) as a challenge. Everything in sport is a challenge,” he explained.
A commentator now, Holding has a simple view on when to retire. “You should go if you stop enjoying the game,” he said.
The man might have left the field, but Holding still remains in the memory of all cricket lovers all over the world.
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