MICHAEL HOLDING vs IAN BOTHAM - BRUTAL FAST BOWLING - BARBADOS 1980

[preedoburner2010]

incredible jumper he's wearing

[vvikramraj]

wow! wasn't Kevin Pietersen's helmet dislodged by a bouncer in recent times in a similar fashion?

[kroqster]

"you miss... i hit"

[xpat73]

Holding was a great fast bowler..no doubt. Personally I felt Malcolm Marshall was better : he was quick and got greater movernment off the seam and swing as well. His variation was just killer.

[south6bt]

@xpat73 The entire West Indian quicks of the eighties were wonderful to watch. All of them deadly in their own right. Ah the memories

[mistersmith6000]

Best bowling rhythm/action since colour TV arrived. Micheal Holding? vs Richard Hadlee?

[TheJustgreg]

@mistersmith6000 Even as a Kiwi, I'd have to say Holding. Hadlee was a model for so many, though. I still see players my age starting their run-up with a little sideways skip.

[DeejayDREAM]

It's almost strange how such a nice guy can bowl such fearsome stuff.

[khanpreston1]

what a bowler

[THEKACHMANMEDIA]

Man Holding got to be the Fastest Bowler of all Time.. That is without a doubt ! ask Botham.

[Schmickalicious]

how the fuck does he bowl so quick? lol cant analyze pure talent

[KanhaTigerman]

Of all the great bowlers from the 70s and 80s, I think Holding was the scariest. Thommo was lightning fast but he was often ineffective on slower pitches. Lillee is considered the greatest but he never got tested on the pitches in the subcontinent. Holding on the other hand was consistently bowling at close to 100 mph everywhere and was almost impossible to face. He toured India in 83-84 at close to the end of this career and just blew the Indian batting away with 30 wickets in 6 tests.

[TheExecutee]

@KanhaTigerman Believe it or not, scary as Holding was, the most-feared bowler in that era was Sylvester Clarke - when he could be bothered, which he rarely could be.

I netted with him; he arrived late to the pre-match practice, wearing pyjamas and slippers, picked up a ball, took one step and just turned his arm over at one of the Surrey batsmen. The ball nipped in and bounced over the batsman's shoulder - he never saw it. Then Clarke walked off.

Holding was more beautiful to watch, though.

[svgkm]

Great bowler. Great human

[dilkashh]

Holding what a beast! His head would be left to right and right to left, almost like a rhythemic stride into bolw....MARVELOUS!

[newpalacetalkiestv]

whys botham batting without stumps???????

[mrbollocks1979]

How I miss those days..

[Mladenovski28]

If this was such a hostile spell of bowling, including the Boycott over, why is the keeper standing so close to the sumps? They stand further back to medium pacers.

[jstreete]

@Mladenovski28 I was wondering that too. It obviously is very fast bowling, but they do look close in. Maybe something to do with the angle of the camera making it look closer than it actually is? Lloyd and Richards were great fielders, so perhaps they were confident enough in their reactions to come in a bit closer than other fielders might.

[Mladenovski28]

@jstreete I thought about the camera angle but it doesn't explain it. When you look at footage of Holding say at the WACA they are well back.

[AIMANALI]

@Mladenovski28 if you see the keeper at old Trafford in 1976 they seem wayyy back. So I doubt there was much difference. Also when a wicket falls the keeper runs like 13 paces - that is the standard really - like the length of the pitch.

[damri]

@Mladenovski28 - The stump cartwheeled almost 18 yards which should give you an indication of how quick holding was.

[jstreete]

Botham's technique looks a bit shaky against the short ball, his foot movement especially. He was probably too much of a front foot player to thrive against the fastest bowling.

[RohRohToday]

I was born in the wrong era of cricket. I never got to watch Thommo, Lillee, Marshall or Holding at their peaks.

[Googly501]

@RohRohToday I was born in the wrong era; I never got to wear a jumper like that!

[Imrankniazi]

Damn, why would you shorten your run-up if you can generate pace like fire with that one?

Speed, bounce and he got them to straighten from off-stump. Play that, ye Poms. Thumbs up for Holding with his long run-up!

[cricmahanty]

Vinda's gonna love this !

HOLDING !!!!

[GetBackToNowhere]

SIR Ian, ffs Robert.