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My Sport: Michael Holding
Interview by Gareth A Davies
Last Updated: 1:03am BST 05/06/2007
Earliest sporting memory: The first major sporting event I saw was the Commonwealth Games in Jamaica in the early Sixties. I was very impressed with it. I was a very young lad. I went to see it live.
Sports watched: I follow all sports. I love sport. I watch golf even though I don't play. I love horse-racing. I used to have shares in a couple of horses in England.
Sports played: I played whatever it was that was available. Football, tennis, basketball. It became my principal sport at the Melbourne Cricket Club, eventually I played cricket and football only. But there were more opportunities playing cricket than anything else. I started off as a spinner and was trying to be a batsman. My ability as a sprinter has been exaggerated. I could not have run for the Caribbean. I was not that good, not good enough to represent the country in the Olympics. I was strong in my schools group, the best in my class at school, good at high jump, hurdles than most people. In fact, I was better at field events than sprinting in the beginning. I think I could have possibly done the hurdles to a high level but did not pursue it for very long. I was quite a strong person at school but started training late. I started to get strong and I could run and jump, and showed reasonably good form in the inter school games. I would beat them over 80 or 90 yards and fall at the last hurdle. I admired Ed Moses. I sometimes wonder how it was that he looked so smooth when he ran.
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Why a life in sport, and if not, what would you have done? I am happy to have done what I do. World Series Cricket, brought in by Kerry Packer was great for me. I played a couple of years of Test cricket and went to University and did not intend to be a professional cricketer. I got a Sussex contract, Tony Greig was there at the time, and there was not a long of money in the game and I would not have enjoyed trudging around the county circuit for low money. I was attending University and Kerry Packer was offering a contract, and I went and played. I have not looked back, enjoyed it all. I would do the same again. If I had not been a cricketer, I was into computer science. I was doing computer programming for Barclays Bank when they were still in Jamaica. Then I moved on to a Government department.
Toughest part of your sporting life: Training, but after you became fit enough the sporting part of the life was wonderful. The toughest part now is the travelling, with not enough time at home.
Most memorable sporting moment: As far as numbers are concerned, 14 wickets at The Oval in 1976, but in the overall picture I was glad to be a member of the West Indies team which beat the Australians, in Australia, in 79-80. We beat everyone, but to beat the Australians in Australia you have to be twice as good as them.
Worst sporting moment: Losing the 1983 World Cup final.
Sporting heroes: I grew up in an era with the name of Muhammad Ali and Pele on everyone's lips. I knew about cricket, and names like Rohan Kanhai, but I was not that enamoured with cricket as a small child. Today, you would have to go towards someone like Tiger Woods, who keeps on working hard and trying to improve his game. He is so dedicated, he is raising the bar in his sport.
Favourite place to play and why: Australia because of the nature of the cricket and the lifestyle. Secondly, I spend four months a year working there. Lord's did not appeal to me in the way that other people think of Lord's. People get emotional about Lord's being the home of cricket, but I like cricket without being concerned with history. I did not like the slope. It's not a great cricket ground, and not a level playing field in more ways than one.
Sporting event you would pay the most to see: An early Olympics before all the drug issues came into play.
...and to miss: Horse polo. It doesn't turn me on at all.
Hardest bowlers faced: I faced too many of them to name.
Best batsmen bowled at: It would depend a lot on the conditions. There were so many good players: Geoffrey Boycott, Sunil Gavaskar, the two Chappell brothers Greg and Ian, and it took different circumstances to get them out. On a flat pitch, Gavaskar seemed immoveable. Ian Chappell in an aggressive mood could embarrass a bowler. But the great technically correct players were Boycott, Majid Khan, Zaheer Abbas the more I think about it, the more batsmen come to mind.
Greatest change you would like to see in the running of your sport: Less cricket being played, both in the Test arena and in the one-day form of the game.
How is cricket covered in the media? I think they do a good job, and with journalism, like most things, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. A lot of journalists were waiting to push the knife into Sky when they got the rights for cricket, but the standard of coverage has been excellent. I haven't seen many journalists mention that.
Sporting motto: Just try and play to the best of your ability.
Did you enjoy your county cricket days? Well I had 5 years in county cricket and to be truthful they weren't very inspiring. We weren't a great side at Derbyshire. We got to one final the Benson and Hedges one day final and we lost badly against Hampshire. In my county days I made good friends. I think the entire situation was and is hampered by the amount of cricket being played. There is nothing wrong with a lot of cricket, but at the same time, you need to be involving all the best players available with and against Test stars and the young players. If the best players are not available, the youngsters are not going to learn the game in the right way.
Who would you like to invite to dinner and why? Nelson Mandela, Muhammad Ali, Pele and Bob Marley. I would like to find out things about these gentlemen and their lives. Nelson Mandela - how he could be so forgiving, to bring South Africa not from going to war when apartheid ended, and after all that had happened. Ali - I would like to know about his history, and why he took the decision to move from being Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali, and what he thought. Pele to just talk about his artistry and how he coped with fame at an early age, and how he has coped for so long in a game which has destroyed so many of its great people, and how that has never happened to him. Finally Marley, and the stories, his music and his life.
Michael Holding is commentating for Sky Sports during its exclusively live and high definition coverage of England v West Indies which continues with the third Test starting on Thursday.
Interview by Gareth A Davies
Last Updated: 1:03am BST 05/06/2007
Earliest sporting memory: The first major sporting event I saw was the Commonwealth Games in Jamaica in the early Sixties. I was very impressed with it. I was a very young lad. I went to see it live.
Sports watched: I follow all sports. I love sport. I watch golf even though I don't play. I love horse-racing. I used to have shares in a couple of horses in England.
Sports played: I played whatever it was that was available. Football, tennis, basketball. It became my principal sport at the Melbourne Cricket Club, eventually I played cricket and football only. But there were more opportunities playing cricket than anything else. I started off as a spinner and was trying to be a batsman. My ability as a sprinter has been exaggerated. I could not have run for the Caribbean. I was not that good, not good enough to represent the country in the Olympics. I was strong in my schools group, the best in my class at school, good at high jump, hurdles than most people. In fact, I was better at field events than sprinting in the beginning. I think I could have possibly done the hurdles to a high level but did not pursue it for very long. I was quite a strong person at school but started training late. I started to get strong and I could run and jump, and showed reasonably good form in the inter school games. I would beat them over 80 or 90 yards and fall at the last hurdle. I admired Ed Moses. I sometimes wonder how it was that he looked so smooth when he ran.
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Why a life in sport, and if not, what would you have done? I am happy to have done what I do. World Series Cricket, brought in by Kerry Packer was great for me. I played a couple of years of Test cricket and went to University and did not intend to be a professional cricketer. I got a Sussex contract, Tony Greig was there at the time, and there was not a long of money in the game and I would not have enjoyed trudging around the county circuit for low money. I was attending University and Kerry Packer was offering a contract, and I went and played. I have not looked back, enjoyed it all. I would do the same again. If I had not been a cricketer, I was into computer science. I was doing computer programming for Barclays Bank when they were still in Jamaica. Then I moved on to a Government department.
Toughest part of your sporting life: Training, but after you became fit enough the sporting part of the life was wonderful. The toughest part now is the travelling, with not enough time at home.
Most memorable sporting moment: As far as numbers are concerned, 14 wickets at The Oval in 1976, but in the overall picture I was glad to be a member of the West Indies team which beat the Australians, in Australia, in 79-80. We beat everyone, but to beat the Australians in Australia you have to be twice as good as them.
Worst sporting moment: Losing the 1983 World Cup final.
Sporting heroes: I grew up in an era with the name of Muhammad Ali and Pele on everyone's lips. I knew about cricket, and names like Rohan Kanhai, but I was not that enamoured with cricket as a small child. Today, you would have to go towards someone like Tiger Woods, who keeps on working hard and trying to improve his game. He is so dedicated, he is raising the bar in his sport.
Favourite place to play and why: Australia because of the nature of the cricket and the lifestyle. Secondly, I spend four months a year working there. Lord's did not appeal to me in the way that other people think of Lord's. People get emotional about Lord's being the home of cricket, but I like cricket without being concerned with history. I did not like the slope. It's not a great cricket ground, and not a level playing field in more ways than one.
Sporting event you would pay the most to see: An early Olympics before all the drug issues came into play.
...and to miss: Horse polo. It doesn't turn me on at all.
Hardest bowlers faced: I faced too many of them to name.
Best batsmen bowled at: It would depend a lot on the conditions. There were so many good players: Geoffrey Boycott, Sunil Gavaskar, the two Chappell brothers Greg and Ian, and it took different circumstances to get them out. On a flat pitch, Gavaskar seemed immoveable. Ian Chappell in an aggressive mood could embarrass a bowler. But the great technically correct players were Boycott, Majid Khan, Zaheer Abbas the more I think about it, the more batsmen come to mind.
Greatest change you would like to see in the running of your sport: Less cricket being played, both in the Test arena and in the one-day form of the game.
How is cricket covered in the media? I think they do a good job, and with journalism, like most things, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. A lot of journalists were waiting to push the knife into Sky when they got the rights for cricket, but the standard of coverage has been excellent. I haven't seen many journalists mention that.
Sporting motto: Just try and play to the best of your ability.
Did you enjoy your county cricket days? Well I had 5 years in county cricket and to be truthful they weren't very inspiring. We weren't a great side at Derbyshire. We got to one final the Benson and Hedges one day final and we lost badly against Hampshire. In my county days I made good friends. I think the entire situation was and is hampered by the amount of cricket being played. There is nothing wrong with a lot of cricket, but at the same time, you need to be involving all the best players available with and against Test stars and the young players. If the best players are not available, the youngsters are not going to learn the game in the right way.
Who would you like to invite to dinner and why? Nelson Mandela, Muhammad Ali, Pele and Bob Marley. I would like to find out things about these gentlemen and their lives. Nelson Mandela - how he could be so forgiving, to bring South Africa not from going to war when apartheid ended, and after all that had happened. Ali - I would like to know about his history, and why he took the decision to move from being Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali, and what he thought. Pele to just talk about his artistry and how he coped with fame at an early age, and how he has coped for so long in a game which has destroyed so many of its great people, and how that has never happened to him. Finally Marley, and the stories, his music and his life.
Michael Holding is commentating for Sky Sports during its exclusively live and high definition coverage of England v West Indies which continues with the third Test starting on Thursday.
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