Legend has it that there was once a fast bowler of extraordinary abilities - a bowler who could destroy the best batting line-ups at his whim - a bowler who literally glided across the field to bowl lethal deliveries over and over again, evoking the title "Whispering Death" by none other than an umpiring legend himself, Dickie Bird.
Michael Anthony Holding was a key member of the all-conquering West Indies side of the late 1970s and '80s, and has an outstanding record of 249 wickets in 60 Test appearances. Its not just the wickets though; his bowling was universally acclaimed as being the fastest ever by many an experienced cricketer and pundit. Holding is now a highly-respected commentator, and has previously also worked with the ICC Cricket Committee.
Not only does 'Mikey' personify the art of fast bowling, he is an extraordinary gentleman - no ego, no pretence or arrogance - just a simple cricket-lover who enjoys talking about the game he has given his whole life to.
We at PakPassion are honoured to present an exclusive interview with this living legend - Michael Holding!
by Nimra Ishtiaq
10 March 2011
PakPassion.Net: Starting off with your own career, who was the best and the toughest batsman that you played against?
Michael Holding: It is difficult for me to nominate one batsman because I played against so many great players in my twelve years of Test match cricket. I would go through different continents and name different batsmen. The two Chappells in Australia ? Initially, when I first started, they were dangerous batsmen to bowl at. And of course later on in my career, I bowled to people like Allan Border, again from Australia. Going on to the Asian sub-continent, I started off bowling against people like Sunil Gavaskar. You know people like him are not easy to bowl to. Then if you think about Pakistan, in my time you had people like Majid Khan, Zaheer Abbas and Javed Miandad. Although I never played Test cricket against Pakistan, I played a lot of one day cricket against them. And of course bowling to people like them was never easy. If you move towards England, I had to bowl to people like Geoffrey Boycott ? tough batsman to bowl, to dismiss. He was not someone who would embarrass you by taking you apart but he was difficult to get out. Later on, you had Graham Gooch and David Gower.
So there were a lot of great players that I bowled to at different stages of my career.
PakPassion.Net: Mikey, you played in an era when the speed gun wasn't around. These days we are seeing bowlers clocking 150 kph. How fast do you think you were at your peak?
Michael Holding: Saj, I don't know and I don't really care! I don't want to engage in any competition with anyone as to how fast I was or how fast anyone is today! I leave that to other people who are witnesses or to argue amongst themselves. I won't be getting involved in all that.
PakPassion.Net: Mikey, you retired at the age of 33. For the modern day fast bowlers, 33 is quite a young age to retire. Why did you retire at 33?
Michael Holding: I retired at 33 because I had had enough. I had played twelve years of Test cricket. I had bowled fast throughout those twelve years and I had had a very successful career. I didn't need to carry on. I was starting to get a few niggling injuries and as a matter of fact it was an injury that decided exactly when I retired. It was in New Zealand, I got a slight injury at Wellington I think. It was nothing serious but it had kept me out of the rest of the Test matches. I wasn't really interested in playing the One Day series after that and I thought it was just an ideal time to go out. I enjoyed the times that I had there as I played in a great team that won a lot. You can't play forever. I think fast bowlers - not medium pacers but people who really bowl fast ? start to decline at 33 as far as pace is concerned. Yes, you are skill-ful and you have a great deal of experience at that stage. But your pace starts to decline. All factors considered - I saw it as a good time to leave.
PakPassion.Net: All cricketers have their favourite grounds and favourite countries to tour. What was your favourite ground in the world?
Michael Holding: My favourite country to tour was Australia. I loved to play cricket in Australia. Everything about the country excited me: the lifestyle, the pitches that we played on, weather conditions and the Australian team that we played against ? the straight up characters and the fighting spirit in the team; all those factors made me want to tour Australia and enjoy it.
The quickest pitch in the world in my time was in Australia as well ? at Perth. Certainly as a fast bowler, you want to be bowling on pitches that really suit your style of bowling. Australia had Perth and they had other places that suited fast bowling. So it was always going to be Australia for me!
I enjoyed playing in England as well because in my entire career, I never lost a Test match or a Test series to England. And people always enjoy winning. But I certainly do not just enjoy winning ? I enjoyed the competition that we got whenever we got to Australia.
PakPassion.Net: You've had some fantastic moments in your career with the West Indies side ? a very successful team. What were the high points and perhaps you could talk about some of the low points as well?
Michael Holding: Well, my high point again has to do with Australia. It was when we beat Australia in Australia for the very first time in 1979/80. That West Indies team that defeated them was the first West Indies team to ever beat Australia in Australia. And you can't beat first! Whenever you do something as this for the first time, it always feels good.
Talking about the low points, there is nothing lower than the World Cup in 1983. It was a disaster, when we should have won the Cup.
These are the high and low points as far as I am concerned.
PakPassion.Net: We see a lot of former greats going into the coaching circuit. I know you've got a very successful career in cricket commentary. Have you ever thought about or ever been tempted to go into coaching?
Michael Holding: Never Saj, never! My mother was a teacher but I didn't get her patience for coaching or teaching. I don't have the patience to coach. I have helped out a lot of cricketers from all over the world ? not only fast bowlers, but also different cricketers who have come to me and sought my advice. I have made it to the nets with some of the West Indian cricketers, fast bowlers in particular. But I could not see myself coaching professionally. I couldn't do that as a job because as I said, I just haven't got the patience!
PakPassion.Net: Moving on to West Indies cricket, I think all cricket lovers around the world will always have a soft spot for the West Indies brand of cricket and the way they approach the game. Why do you think the West Indies are in decline at the moment?
Michael Holding: Well, they are in decline at the moment for quite a few different reasons. The major reason is the lack of infrastructure and lack of planning by the West Indies and the people who run the game in the Caribbean. We beat the rest of the world for a very long time based purely on ability and some hard work. The rest of the world caught up with us by planning, by getting a lot more scientific, and we stood still. We never got to that level. When people were walking around with computers, we were still walking around with a small book and a pen! And of course, if you don't have the planning and the infrastructure in place, people will just fly past you. Even in business, if you have a successful business, and you stand still thinking ?Oh, my business is successful, I don't have to be innovative, I should just keep on doing what I'm doing?, that business will soon fail. And that is exactly where the West Indies fell down.
We can still try and catch up. We can still try and put things in place now to make sure that we can catch up. But what we need is a functioning board ? a competent, functioning board that can organize things and at the moment, I don't think we have that.
PakPassion.Net: Mikey, we see a lot of fast bowlers from the West Indies pop up for a season or two and everybody is raving about them. But guys like yourself and Malcolm Marshall, you guys did the hard graft over a long period. Why is it that so many of the West Indian fast bowlers ? the likes of Jerome Taylor, Fidel Edwards ? we see them doing very well for a season or two and then they seem to disappear off the scene?
Michael Holding: They don't disappear, they get injured. A lot of the fast bowlers ? not just West Indian fast bowlers ? get injured on a regular basis these days because of the amount of cricket that they play. Look around the world right now and tell me the number of fast bowlers who are playing Test cricket. You can count them on one hand. As a matter of fact, you can count them on one hand with a finger left! They get injured because they cannot bowl fast for the length of time that the ICC and the cricketing boards around the world are asking you to bowl fast.
Brett Lee is a young man, he retired from Test match cricket because he could not take the strain. He is playing the shorter form of the game and playing it quite successfully.
Shaun Tait ? well, he retired even before Brett Lee! And I think he might be younger than Brett Lee. Look around the world and see how many fast bowlers are really left?
Shane Bond ? he was constantly on and off the field.
And when I say fast bowlers, I am not talking about people who bowl 80 miles an hour. Those are not fast bowlers. I am talking about people pushing 90 miles an hour. Jerome Taylor and Fidel Edwards pushed 90 miles an hour on a regular basis but not being strong, powerful men, they get injured. Right now, they are playing cricket in the Caribbean, working their way back.
PakPassion.Net: Your thoughts on Kemar Roach who had the fantastic performance the other day? Do you think he's got in him the technical ability and the fitness to be sort of a household name in a few years time?
Michael Holding: Well, he?s 22 years old. He has a lot to learn, nobody at 22 years of age knows everything but he certainly has started well. Again, he will need some help around him. What we in the Caribbean will be hoping for is that Jerome Taylor and Fidel Edwards come back quickly to take that strain off Kemar Roach. He can't be the only fast bowler in the team. He can't be the only man to take on the brunt of the attack. So one hopes that he will get some help around him. And certainly, when those guys come back, we'll have a nice, potent bowling attack and that will certainly help in his development and help him to remain fit and strong and to last a few years.
PakPassion.Net: Keiron Pollard is one of those cricketers that everybody enjoys watching in twenty over cricket or the occasional explosive innings in fifty over cricket. What is your take on this brand of cricketer? There seem to be one or two such explosive batsmen in every team at the moment. What are your thoughts on Keiron Pollard?
Michael Holding: Well, you're right about the ?occasional? performance of Keiron Pollard in the longer form of the game. What Keiron Pollard does on a regular basis in Twenty20 cricket will work in that form of the game only. A batsman goes out there, faces thirty balls and gets 55 runs ? that's fantastic in Twenty20 cricket, but not so good in the longer form of the game. Keiron Pollard came good against Netherlands. One would hope that it is the beginning of him now coming good in the longer form of the game now because that is what the West Indies need from him. West Indies don't need someone to go out there and bat for twenty or twenty-five balls. They need someone to last a lot longer than that and hopefully, that is what he will do in the not too distant future. He has played something like 34 One Day Internationals, and everybody is saying ?Oh he's such a fantastic talent!"
You cannot play 34 ODIs, be a fantastic talent and hit only two half-centuries and average 19! That is not production.
PakPassion.Net: You mentioned about the infrastructure and the administration of West Indies cricket that is holding it back at the moment. What are your thoughts on the general passion ? is the love for the game still there in the Caribbean? Do fans still get behind their team and is cricket still the number one sport in the country at the moment or has football taken over?
Michael Holding: Cricket was never ever the number one sport in the Caribbean. Football has always been the number one sport as far as people participation is concerned. People look upon cricket as the number one sport wrongly, because of the fact that we play cricket as the ?West Indies?. Every island comes together and has one team. So the entire Caribbean is bonded behind this one team. But if you see the number of people who actually play sports in the Caribbean and you look at the number of people playing football, you'd know it is the number one participation sport.
What we need to do in the Caribbean is to get the youngsters interested in the game again. What you said is right, not that many people are interested in cricket as much as they were before. However, if the West Indies win a game, everyone will tell you about it because whether they are playing or not, people are interested in what is going on and they are secretly hoping that the West Indies will come back. But those are the fans. What we need are people who are actually interested in going out on to the field to be interested in the sport and to want to play the sport. The youngsters ? we need to get the youngsters in the Caribbean to play cricket again. And for that, we need some sort of infrastructure to make sure the game is easily accessible to all youngsters because it's an expensive and time-consuming game. There are a lot of other things for them to do, and we need them back into the game. To make them interested in trying to find out about the game and want them to play it, we have to make the game easily accessible to them.
PakPassion.Net: Moving on to the topic of fast bowling in general around the world, rather than just the West Indies, which fast bowlers have impressed you? There have been so many greats over the years. But what about some of the more recent fast bowlers ? which ones have you been impressed with?
Michael Holding: Well, there's only one right now ? Dale Steyn. He is the only fast bowler in the world playing Test match cricket right now and that's impressive. The rest of them are either injured, not playing on a regular basis or have retired. Again, when I say fast bowlers, I'm not talking about people who run in from 40 yards or 30 yards. I'm talking about people who are bowling close to 90 miles an hour ? that's what I call a fast bowler. There aren't many around the world right now. Dale Steyn is the only one who bowls at that pace and can maintain that pace on a regular basis and can maintain that pace and produce results.
PakPassion.Net: Going back 15-20 years, the top sides used to have 90-mph bowlers playing Test cricket. What's happened now? Why is it that so many fast bowlers are not sticking to Test cricket?
Michael Holding: That's because of the workload! You cannot ask someone to play so much cricket as a fast bowler and to maintain their enthusiasm, fitness and vigour ? it is impossible!
PakPassion.Net: But do you think that the easy option for these guys is to opt out of Test cricket and just play twenty-overs and fifty-overs cricket then?
Michael Holding: It is. You have Brett Lee! I mentioned him specifically because of that. Brett Lee can still play Test cricket. But the easy option is to cut down on the amount of cricket that you play and just play the shorter form, especially at a time when players earn a lot of money by playing twenty-over cricket.
If I was a young man today, with the amount of cricket being played nowadays, why would I want to play Test cricket if I can go to India, bowl four overs and get a million dollars? Tell me why I should play Test cricket?!
PakPassion.Net: Mikey, do you believe in the moniker 'fast bowlers are born, and not made'?
Michael Holding: Definitely. You can't make a fast bowler. You can't take anyone and put them in a gymnasium and give them whatever exercises and strengthen their body and turn out a fast bowler. You have to be born a fast bowler. You've got to have the rhythm and the coordination and everything else that it takes to bowl that fast. Strength, hard work and practice alone cannot make a fast bowler. It?s not just physical ? it?s a lot of other things combined.
PakPassion.Net: What was the best piece of advice that you ever got from another fast bowler regarding your own bowling?
Michael Holding: To be honest, I didn't get a lot of advice off other fast bowlers about my bowling. As a young man growing up at Melbourne Cricket Club, there were two spinners that helped me a lot with my bowling - Arthur Barrett and Bruce Wellington - were 2 spinners there at Melbourne. They were bright men, they knew the game and they helped me a lot.
I don't remember getting too much advice from other fast bowlers. When I started to play for the West Indies, Andy Roberts and I were room mates. In that regard, we discussed opposition batsmen and talked about cricket and fast bowling. But as a young man growing up before I met Andy, those were the people who really helped me.
PakPassion.Net: Moving on to the ongoing World Cup, which sides have impressed you so far?
Michael Holding: There are quite a few teams that can win the World Cup. But I tell you, whichever team bowls best will win. I think Australia have a fantastic bowling line up. They have Brett Lee, Shaun Tait and Mitchell Johnson ? three bowlers who have fantastic strike rates. I think Mitchell Johnson has the highest strike rate of them all, meaning that he takes the most balls to take a wicket. I think he takes 30-odd balls while below him, you have Brett Lee who takes 29 balls and then Shaun Tait who takes about 26 balls to take a wicket. When you have three bowlers that can take wickets as regularly as that, it is a dynamic force. An of course their batting isn't that shabby!
Then you also have South Africa who have Steyn and Morkel. They are a reasonably good side as well. And their batting is strong too.
India have fantastic batting, and I think India's best chance of winning the World Cup is to chase targets, not to set targets. That's because their bowling is not the type of bowling that?s going to prevent teams from getting big targets as we saw when they made 338. England should have won that game comfortably with overs to spare. So I think India can win but their best chance, in my opinion is to chase targets, not set targets.
PakPassion.Net: There has been a lot of discussion recently and the ICC has taken some action regarding the number of teams in the World Cup. What's your take on the format and the fact that there are (with all due respect) three minnow sides in each of the groups?
Michael Holding: Well, I think there are four minnows in total ? four associate teams. People refer to Zimbabwe and Bangladesh as minnows but they are Test playing nations. They are struggling a little bit, especially Zimbabwe - they have had their problems and they are trying to get back to normalcy. Bangladesh - recently a Test nation ? you have to give them some time to develop. But I do not agree with four associate teams playing in the World Cup. I said that in 2007. People ridiculed me, they said that it was ridiculous to say that because that's the only way they can improve. Well, we have seen it. They have not improved and they have been embarrassed. And you do not want to be embarrassing people and getting mediocre Mickey Mouse games being played. We had another one today. Kenya were totally embarrassed (Group A match vs Sri Lanka). We've had quite a few others that have been embarrassed in these games. Canada ? totally embarrassed on more than one occasion.
What you need to do is limit the amount of minnows or associate teams that are in a World Cup and reward the two that go into the finals of their tournament ? no more than that! You can?t take them all out as the ICC have now done for the next World Cup. I think that's ridiculous. You've got to give them something to aim at. There has to be a 'carrot', there has to be an incentive for them to play and aim towards something. But not four teams! If you cannot get to the finals of your own associate tournament, what are you doing in a major World Cup?
PakPassion.Net: Mikey, you'll be more than happy that you are sat in the Sky Studios and not having to bowl on some of these wickets out there in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. They seem to be very much in favour of the batsmen at the moment.
Michael Holding: Very much so, but if you have pace, you can be successful as we have seen. And I don't think I would have been too worried about bowling on them. I went to India in 1983. I got thirty wickets in five Test matches. I wouldn't have been too worried about bowling on them. If you have pace, you can be successful.
PakPassion.Net: Virender Sehwag is a batsman that quite a number of modern day bowlers have faced and been carted around the pitch. Now what would have been your plan against someone like Sehwag? And did you ever come up against someone similar in approach and technique?
Michael Holding: I think I came up against better batsmen than Sehwag ever can be! I think people like Majid Khan, Javed Miandad, Zaheer Abbas ? I think I have gone up against better batsman than Sehwag. Sehwag hammers the ball all around. His technique is a bit ordinary though too. He loves the ball outside his off stump. If I was to bowl at Sehwag, he would not see a ball outside his off stump unless he was sleeping and dreaming! You would see every ball in line with his body and that is how you've got to bowl to Sehwag. Give him nothing outside his off stump, bring the ball in to him every delivery, and cramp him for room. Don't give him any room outside his off stump for him to extend those arms and we'll see how he?ll score runs then! I am not saying that he will not score runs at all but he certainly won't score as fluently as he is scoring now outside the off stump.
PakPassion.Net: We look at Sachin Tendulkar, Jaques Kallis and Brian Lara as three of the greatest batsmen of the modern era. How do they compare against some of the guys you mentioned, like Javed Miandad, Sunil Gavaskar, Zaheer Abbas and others?
Michael Holding: Saj, to be honest I don't like comparing big cricketers from different eras. When you play in a particular era, you play and perform against what you come up against and you do what is necessary in that particular era. I was asked recently to compare two bowlers ? two great leg spinners as far as I?m concerned ? Shane Warne and Abdul Qadir. I think they are the two best leg spinners I have ever seen. But Abdul Qadir did not play in the modern time. He did not have to develop a variety of deliveries that Shane Warne had to develop in this modern time. But that doesn't mean that Abdul Qadir, in my opinion wasn't as good a bowler as Shane Warne. So when you're comparing batsmen, Viv Richards didn't play in the modern times. He didn't have to make the sort of adjustments and do different things that modern cricketers are doing. But that doesn't mean he wasn't as good as a modern day batsman. So I don't like comparing eras. In the modern era, you've had great batsmen. In the past era, you've had great batsmen. And I like to keep it that way.
Bowlers, similar situation. Look at the amount of slow deliveries the bowlers are now doing. Look at the amount variety the bowlers now have in their armoury because they have to. They have had to adjust. In my time, very few bowlers bowled slow deliveries but that doesn't mean bowlers in those days weren't as good as they are now. So comparing eras, I think it's totally false and unfair.
PakPassion.Net: It seems like the modern day cricketers are very reliant on fielding coaches, batting coaches, the Head coach as well ? there seem to be more coaches than players sometimes! What's your take on this aspect of coaches and their involvement in modern day cricket?
Michael Holding: Well, that's the way the game has changed. As I said, times change, things change. In my time, we didn't have all those coaches. We had a manager, an assistant manager and we had a captain. It was not till World Series Cricket came along when we had a physiotherapist who travelled with us and we still didn't have a coach. But times have changed now. Teams have sixteen members in their squad and they have twelve or thirteen support staff. They have a nutritionist, a physiotherapist and they have coaches ? specialist coaches for fielding, batting and bowling. I don't have a problem with it. Times have changed ? you have to specialise, and you need to get people who can do these specific jobs that different people in the team require. I have no problem with it.
PakPassion.Net: Mikey, moving on to a chapter that was extremely sad and distressing for all cricket fans around the world last year, especially for Pakistani cricket fans ? the spot-fixing saga. You were very close to the action there as you were on commentary. What are your general thoughts on what happened and do you think cricket will ever recover from this episode?
Michael Holding: To be honest, I think cricket will recover. I think people who love the game have very short memories ? they can move on from bad news and bad incidents. And I certainly know that cricket will survive. What happened in that series and with those three gentlemen was very very unfortunate. And I was very distressed to see and to realise that a young eighteen year old had been dragged into that mess ? a young, talented eighteen year old who had so much in front of him. That is the most unfortunate aspect of it all for me, because everyone will say that he is a big man and at eighteen years of age, you're a responsible person and you should know what is right and wrong ? yes, I totally agree but still at eighteen years old, you're not a mature person. I don't care what anyone says but you can be easily influenced. It's unfortunate that young Mohammad Amir got involved in all that, but let's hope that others will learn from this and others will say ?No? when things like this come up in the future.
PakPassion.Net: Going back to another controversial incident in 2006 when you resigned from your position from the ICC after they declared the Oval test between Pakistan and England as a draw. Your thoughts on the decision and what went wrong on that day as well?
Michael Holding: Well, on that day, a lot of people would have heard me on Sky, totally disagreeing with what the umpires did, because what the umpires did in my eyes was to say to the entire world that ?Pakistan, your team and you are cheats?. When you take a decision like that and to fine a team or to punish a team like they did, it just sends one signal ? there are no two ways about it. That punishment is for cheating. And if you're going to say that my team, or me as a person, or whatever is ?cheating?, you need to make sure you have all evidence available to prove that. And I do not think the evidence was there to prove it. So I was totally against the umpires making that decision and I totally supported Inzamam-ul-Haq for what he did because I would have done the same thing. You don't call me a cheat unless you can prove it and disgrace me and my team.
But, when you make decisions like that as an individual, as a person, you have got to be able to live off the consequences. That is why people are called martyrs at times, because they make decisions that they know ?okay, there are consequences coming with this. But I have to stand up for my rights.? That is why we see what's happening around in the Middle East right now. People are giving up their lives for their rights. You'll suffer the consequences when you make certain decisions, but you know what is coming.
Pakistan knew what was coming. Inzamam-ul-Haq would have known what was coming. They made their decision; they made a statement ? which I think was the right statement. But when the punishment comes, you have got to suffer that punishment. They knew the match was going to be forfeited. The match was forfeited under the rules of the game. We can't compromise with the rules and laws of the game for anything. Suffer the consequences and move on. When you are then going to change and say that the laws of the game now are wrong or that the laws of the game should be changed, I can't agree with that. You do not mess with the laws of the game. You make a statement as I said, and you stand up for your rights, but the laws of the game are there. If people in suits are going to all of a sudden going to change everything because they do not like the way it was done, or because they have political reasons for doing it, then I do not want to be a part of it.
PakPassion.Net: Looking ahead of the spot-fixing saga, do you think cricket can ever be cleaned? Do you think the ICC are doing enough with regards to educating cricketers?
Michael Holding: Well, I think they might be doing enough to educate cricketers. I don't know exactly what they are doing. But it is difficult to suggest that the ICC aren't doing enough to educate the cricketers. I think all the cricketers know exactly what they need to do and what they should not be doing and what the consequence are. My problem with the ICC is that they have known and have had evidences of things happening in the past and they have swept it under the carpet. That is why it has continued! That is my problem with the ICC. You cannot have, because a certain particular person has a big name and you don?t want it to go in the public, and you just sweep it under the carpet because the people who are getting involved in this spot-fixing and match-fixing will go to the people that they want to target and get them to co-operate. And people would look at these names and say "Oh these people have cooperated with you and they're fine, so why shouldn't I?" That is my problem with the entire situation. That is now gone though. That is history. You can't change what has passed. What I would hope is that from now on, the ICC will take serious steps whenever things like that happen and the cricketers themselves will learn that this is not going to be accepted.
PakPassion.Net: Now coming to a couple of questions about Pakistan cricket and some of the big names who have played for Pakistan over the years ? Shoaib Akhtar has been a bit of an enigma. He's been in and out of the side and in controversies. He seems to be having a good end to his career. What are your thoughts on Shoaib Akhtar and how his career has developed over the years, Mikey?
Michael Holding: I don't think his career has developed to be honest. I think Shoaib Akhtar has not produced anywhere near as much as he could have. That's up to him, you know. He would know why he hasn't produced the goods. It is up to him now to make sure he ends at a reasonably high note. He is in the World Cup at the moment with Pakistan, he has a chance of helping Pakistan to, if not win the World Cup, then to at least advance to the later stages of the World Cup - as far as they possibly can. But I don't think Shoaib Akhtar has really produced the goods that his ability suggests that he should. He was always in a lot of controversy ? one with his bowling action, which I think especially later on in his career has stemmed mainly from the fact, that he has not been as fit as he could be, especially later on in his career. But that's up to him. He controls his career.
PakPassion.Net: What do you make of Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis ? three of the greatest fast bowlers Pakistan have ever produced?
Michael Holding: Great bowlers, fantastic bowlers. They have produced the goods. You know those guys were talented and they produced the goods over a long period of time, which is what you are looking for from people with that sort of talent. I am very happy to see the length of time that those guys played, how well they mastered their art and their craft and how they produced the goods for their country. That's what I love to see. I don't like to see people with talent wasting that talent and having other people who would love to have that talent sitting down in the stands, watching them waste their talent. You have some people that would give an arm and a leg to have that talent and to go on and represent their country.
So it's great to see when you have the talent and you go out and really use that talent and perform.
