Michael Holding v England (Oval 1976 )

[Tehui1974]

Tony Greig: "We will make them grovel". Yeah right Tony.

[rangy8888]

The cricket in the present year is boring. The 70's and early 80's are really the great glory years for cricket. Real talent, real speed, consistent and this Mr. Whispering Death is the one stylish and terrorising bowler in his time. The present era bowlers all over are pussies.

[dilkashh]

Michael. Holding. Has. The. Best. Run-Up. Of. All. Time.

[skgw2010]

@dilkashh yes he does!!!!

[svgkm]

People like braveart fims who speak wi of racism must be reminded of one fact. There are still hundreds of children working in diamond mines in africa which are ultimately consumed by whites all around world. What you say about this?

[daddycarty]

Overrated? are you kidding? one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time v

[ashokatibrewal]

i feel he is overrated.

[WENGERGOONER]

Whispering Death. Sensational!

[Inspire6]

when he said i dont need to tell you whose coming out i had no idea

[eydiot909]

What a ball to bowl Tony Greig ! That was worth a pitch invasion !

[OjoOro]

michael holding was one of the old 'legends' like ian botham, bob willis and andy roberts. truly amazing.

[braveartfilms]

These were the peak days of racism in cricket. Racism was one of the biggest reasons the wi team was so focused on destroying their opponents.

[dlamiss]

@braveartfilms

Racism, dont think so somehow (but then again there always has to be comments such as yours on a thread like this.

read the book Grovel by David Tossell before you make such ill informed comments

think you will find the West Indies were hellbent on destroying their opponents after they themselves had been destoyed 5-1 in Australia the previous winter.

[braveartfilms]

@dlamiss You have live in fairytale land all you want...however from the horses mouths you will hear them say how racism played a big factor in their determination to destroy opponents. This is the same WI team that boycotted the Apartheid South Africa due to the racism of that regime. You can continue to look the other way and pretend that racism was not a factor however the players themselves saw it as a factor. so who am I to believe you or players of the WI team? lol

[dlamiss]

@braveartfilms

you need to learn your cricket history son "the same WI that boycotted the apartheid South Africa" is it

dont think so somehow. Rowe, Kallicharan, Julien, KIng & Padmore from that tour ALL played in the rebel South african tour 82-3 & were joined by amongst others Croft, Stephenson, Clarke &Mozeley

Read the book and educate yourself a little bit more before you come on here spouting crap about racism

after all South Africa was good enough for those windies cricketers etc.

[narendrahshah]

What a smooth running action. But then, he wasn't called a Rolls Royce for no reason. It is very amusing to see young fans -sort of consoling Allan Knott (last dismissed batsman )-May be he got a first ball duck on his birthday- " A Nice Birthday Gift !!! "

[patch676]

i have never seen such a devastating fast bowler . i think he was far better than what modern cricket has today . right into the block hole .and what to say of sir viv richards .he was more devastating in batting. what a magnificent team west indies were 3 decades back. sir michael holding you are really great and we appreciate your fast bowling.those were the bright days of cricket without any racism and vulgar comments on each other. peaceful and what it has to be always.

[sabinamahmoood]

Haha absolutely love how the fans just run around on the "playing area" when Holding got the 2nd wicket. :)

[Parrock1]

@sabinamahmoood Dickie Bird used to tell a great story - he said one of those fans gave him £50 to pass on to Holding - he joked that being a tight Yorkshireman, it actually ended up in his bank account!

[mrvonaerial]

MAGNIFICENT bowling action hehehehe

[lo734]

My fast bowling idol at his very best....

[TROXNi]

aaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwssssssssss­sooooooooooommmmmmmmeeeeeeeee!­!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!best fast bowling evah

[jimmismash]

Got Holding's autograph when the WI team visited Dublin during that summer tour in 1976. As a 10 year old, I'd never seen pace bowling like that. Couldn't believe how far Deryck Murray was behind the stumps keeping wicket to Holding, Andy Roberts, Joel Garner, and co. What a team. Easily the best test team of all time with apologies to Warne's Australian sides.

[666heavymetaladdict]

@jimmismash Don Bradman's Invincibles?

[AIMANALI]

@jimmismash wow that was great. Thx for sharing. Brain Johnson the great UK commentator who had seen Thommo, Patterson (et all) at thier quickest said that the fastest he had seen was Holding. Tell me how fast was he plus how far was the wicket keeper standing ? Thx By the way that spell against India was ...well as vicious as thommo ever bowled and if this was an Australian in the 1970s they would have made a real big deal about it instead of talking about 'negative bowling'.

[2dlamb]

LMFAO "get off the playing area please" fucking guys on the field rofl

[jockherbertperry]

Beautiful...........Holding (Whispering Death) at his glorious best. Those were the real days of cricketing legends!

[bagshitass]

ive tried to find gatting getting hammered in the nose by marshall..if anyone has that..plz upload!

[SuperAzrael87]

imran, check out Malcolm Marshall, 1984 v england, took 7-53 with a broken thumb, and batted.

And for a one off, Malcolm v the Saffers, 9-53, also at the oval in the 90's.

[Imrankniazi]

@SuperAzrael87 Yeah, both great spells I know. There have been many great spells over the years..I just picked my best ones.

The amazing thing is Holding maintained such pace and intensity during the full course of two innings on a pitch that was dead as a dodo. It was sheer stamina, skill and mental toughness that saw him through 14 wickets in the Test. 12 of his victims were lbw or bowled, so he completely dominated the batsmen with pace and length.

[mudcrabno9]

@Imrankniazi would love to see the real PACE of those fab 70s and early 80s fast bowlers - would be amazing to see Thomson minus injury (1976 Adelaide Oval) how fast he would have been with the $ around in the game as now - Holding, Tyson, Thomson, Lee, Roberts, Croft, Hall, Pascoe, Lillee, Hadlee, Imran, Garner, Marshall, the list goes on Amazing talent ... real cricket (not the franchise version we have today)

[Imrankniazi]

From what I've read and from old footages I've seen, the THREE BEST bowling performances IMHO are (post 1970):-

1) Mike Holding -14/149 against Eng at Oval, 1976

.

.

.

/*daylight*/

.

.

2) Dennis Lillee - 8/29 against World XI, Perth, 1970/71

3) Imran Khan - 8/60 against India, Karachi, 1982/83

[zsifk]

1. How did they bat without helmets against bowling like that? Then again England needed bigger bats, not helmets.

2. What has happened to West Indian cricket?

[samurai150]

The Rolls Royce of fast bowlers, Holding was smooth from run-up to delivery. He was fast - as fast if not faster than any of his colleagues - he was fiery, and yet he had the look of a choir boy, even at The Oval in 1976 while destroying England with 14 wickets for 149 runs. In 60 Test matches, Holding took 249 wickets at an average of 23.68.

[siarung]

my mum in her pinny could have hit that with a stick of rhubarb

[DKLillee355]

If you could improve the quality it would be soooo much better.

[edcaley]

Look how brown the outfield is.....that long, hot summer of '76! (I was 5....)

[roadhunter99]

the country which invented cricket has never won a major tournment. no no no i'm not talking about World cup. It stays with aussie for decades.

[ucisay]

I would have loved to see Sachin play this pace battery

[AIMANALI]

@ucisay I not sure if he would be any better. I know Sachin is truly a great bat BUT I am not such how he is against real high Pace (I think GAvaskar was better with Pace). Many times Sachin was set at the wicket YET he gets out against Shaoib Akhtar by getting beaten for PACE and that tells me that he is not really a natural against Pace. I consider Holding as quick as Akhtar if not quicker.

[bdsamlal]

Holding bowled as fast as he now slanders others-Its the Jamaican way

[vikramaditya100]

west indies quickies apart from their bouncer strategy also used a form of swing called IRISH(with the old ball) which i think was similar to reverse swing invented by the Pakistan pacers. Marshall used this technique very effectively in the second half of his career.

[DKLillee355]

@vikramaditya100 irish swing is reverse swing.

[nellorelion]

And how good was the pakistani pace by awesome two W's

[gavaskarvishy7]

Marshall best and by far the great fast bowler for the last two decades. Holding equally good in those 70s and 80s westindian pace juggernaut.

[athull08]

Great bowler, Great Person, Great Voice!

[widlad7]

Dennis Amiss, who is widely believed to have been hopeless against this sort of bowling, scored 203 in this very match.

[vikramaditya100]

But Marshall could swing the ball more right? So he is regarded as the greatest bowler ever.

[vikramaditya100]

Who was quicker?? Holding or Marshall???

[DKLillee355]

Holding but not by much.

[USMANchampNO1]

I think holding cuz he made then invent helmets for cricket

[ayaazcyclops]

@vikramaditya100 holding.

[lo734]

@vikramaditya100 from the videos and the talk going around I will say Holding...

[aliten1]

Hey I was wondering if anyone knows where I can find the video of Holding's horrific bouncer to Geoff Boycott which in fact broke his nose..? Thanks

[gnorm22]

Holding never broke Boycott's nose with a bouncer. Do you mean when Malcolm Marshall splattered Mike Gatting's nose with a bouncer? Holding did once clean bowl Boycs at the end of one of the most ferocious overs ever bowled in the West Indies in 1980.

[sonofthedestroyer]

@gnorm22,

Holding did force India to declare an innings once. Because he injured all the top order. Broken noses, faces, wrists etc.

India condemned Holding for excessive intimidatory bowling after that

[Bullitt54321]

@gnorm22. You're right - Holding didn't break Boycott's nose, but I do remember him bowling a bouncer which went in-between Boycott's visor and helmet and cut him above the eye - that was in the 1980 Test Series in England. Maybe that's what the other guy was referring to?

[droskynstarman]

Hey i remember this game,it hadnt rained since mid April,everyone was saying the water will run out and we are going to die, great bowling though.

[kofi114]

At 1:00 - maybe this was when the famous commentary quote "the bowler's Holding the Batsman's Willie" originated from.

Holding truely had one of the greatest actions in the history of test cricket.

In Dickie Bird's autobiography he describes this ball, he says that before Holding returned to his run up mark he chuckled ominously and said to Dickie "whatch this ball" and then he bowled the fastest thing Dickie had ever seen. Great description of a great moment by a true great.

[kofi114]

That was for the ball that was bowled to Tony Grieg btw.

[AIMANALI]

@kofi114 wow that was a great story - thx for sharing.

[Jimmyhendrixrules]

His run-up is nothing short of immaculate.

[moparbros]

1970,s and early 80,s was an awesome era of cricket , sadly the demise of the west indies compared to then , has been the the worst thing for the game , its like ALI out of boxing.  even though I follow the aussies.

[grincher2006]

1976 was the hottest summer on record in the uk

[C0NTR4B455]

You gotta love the group of kids seeing Knotty off..One's even got a commiserating arm 'round his shoulder and they're all taller than him!!

[tomasperry]

What a wonderful clip - the glorious Michael Holding bowling and the much lamented Richie Benaud commenting. We saw him watching the Second Test v Oz at Lords - happy memories. Jim Laker too - how we miss him. Now we have Michael Holding's knowledgeable commentary in his marvellous bass voice commenting.

[anonalias]

tomasperry: "lamented Richie Benaud commenting"?

"lamented"? You do realise he's alive and well don't you? He's not dead!

[Imrankniazi]

Greigy, now who's 'grovelling'?

[MajidAli2k6]

Place Your Self In The Batsmens Shoes & Think What It Would Feel Like To Watch Michael Holding And Macolm Marshall Bowling At U...........(Scary)

[MrLouisJack]

he is my cousin

[aks73]

Beautiful bowling.

[harisworks]

His run up is so smooth - wonderful to watch

[pix042]

Obviously a great bowler but how much is due to the ineptitude of the batting? And, don't forget, fear of getting hit before the days of helmets against a bowler who had already shown he would happily pitch it short at Old Trafford?

[mickeyb1000]

have these groundstaff heard of sprinklers?

[midianholic]

It was 1976, the year of the great drought.

Mikey was a genius. I loved watching him bowl.

[iamonlinebaby]

Look at the rhythmic run up.He generated immense pace with the slightest of efforts.The best fast bowler of all time,to grace the game of cricket.Holding had everything up his sleeves,he was quick and accurate.

One has to feel for Boycott the way Holding bowled that Best Fast Bowling Display Over Ever.

As for Tony Greigh,poor dude got out twice on the same delivery and same way.

We used to call him Rolls Royce and Whispering death.

[jon031264]

You said it all , mate. I wouldn't feel sorry for Grieg though .

A nice guy but on this occasion a complete bumbaclot.

[stellaviolens]

If i'd been one of the cricketers i'd have hit one of those brats with the bat.

[Kedgereeclub]

Poetry in motion

[Dave9823]

i wanna bowl like Holding!

[citizenwright]

in my opinion the greatest fast bowler of all time bar none.

[galvinwasgod]

Happy birthday Whispering Death, 55 today. Look at the sun scorched outfield. The Halcyon days of 1976- where did the time go?

[andrehylton300]

The ease at which he generates such tremendous pace is scary. Michael Holding is a freak of nature, Iv never seen another like him

[richardmiles21]

This was not just great fast bowling but intelligent fast bowling; the pitch was as flat as a witches tit (there had been two double hundreds scored) so Holding pitched it right up there and bowled gun-barrel straight. Lesser bowlers might have tried to use the pitch when, in fact, there was nothing in the pitch.

[njrajesh]

Michael Holding's performance at the Oval in 1976 is one of the most devastating displays of all time......... I've watched a video of this game & believe me, Holding was seriously fast !!!!

[Brendanvio]

He had such a beautiful run up, it hid some real menace.

[acerza89]

wow, the fans came on to the pitch in their support, thats must be a real test match to watch unlike the ozzyzs

[fingersmolloy]

is this the series that tony grieg said england will beat the west indies easy.....

mug.....micheal holding though...what a bowler ...beautiful run up just like harold larwood but with a whistle

[Imrankniazi]

He's seriously quick. It is very difficult to say whether Roberts was just as quick or perhaps quicker.

It is also worth noting that Holding took 28 and Roberts took 27 wickets in this series. Of these Holding claimed 14 in the Oval test.

The chief tormentor for England in this series for England was Andy Roberts, however, when Holding got his act together on the docile Oval track, he was as close to unplayable as anyone had seen.

[randykawasaki]

Holding was quicker.

[VVKY10]

@Imrankniazi Before Holding turned up, Roberts was the fastest bowler WI had produced and maybe the fastest ever up to that point. He was express 1972-1975. Thommo and Holding were faster than him. In '82, Holding's reign as the fastest bowler in world was over and, crudely speaking, that crown passed on as: Marshall -> Patterson -> Bishop -> Waqar/Donald-> Shoaib/Bond/Lee. There was more to Roberts than pure pace; he was the unquestioned leader of the WI pack.

[whouster]

What a magnificent bowler. The most graceful and rhythmic fast bowler there's ever been. Every one of the England batsmen were beaten for pace.

[vamp53]

lol cool video, i prefer my homemade ones though ;-) wink wink ..!x Play-Cam (.COM)

[ashayer92]

better bowlers than holding? what are you smoking

[Imrankniazi]

Actually, I think his mates Roberts and later Malcolm Marshall were slightly better than him. Everyone is entitled to an opinion though!

[VrichikaA]

no doubt...rolls royce has a fantastic action...but I liked Chris old's too...if any had seen him..

[eydiot909]

Holding yorking Tony Greig is flippin fantastic after what Greig said about "making the West Indies grovel".

I feel too like invading the pitch !

Yeah there were better bowlers than Holding but just watch his action. It's poetry !

[lmsharples]

Malcom Marshall.... all fluent actions

[lmsharples]

what about Dennis Lillee and Richard Hadlee??

[rjdavey68]

You must be joking. Good as those two were (world beaters in there time) the WI in late 70's and 80's were totally different class, as in best ever. So says a cricket fan (English).

[lmsharples]

i wasent on about how good they were, even tho Lillee and Hadlee were pretty damn good..... An average in the low 20's is tough to match. Talking about the fluency of their bowling actions. Says another cricket fan (also English)

[kethmanhallik3]

Among the super quicks,only Allan Donald and Shane Bond have actions as smooth as Holding's.

[sonofthedestroyer]

Michael Holding is the complete opposite to Tait and Malinga in terms of orthodoxy.

[abed83a]

smooth and deadly. and no one will dare to raise the issue about 'bending the elbow' - its as perfect as u can get. the way batsmen are getting bowled, seems they are only holding the bat-handle. as if the blade is missing :-)

[te444]

look at 3:05 some kid is on the field and the players tell him to go away. just amazing you wouldn't see that in today's game. BTW Holding is one of the true great fast bowlers of all time.

[AIMANALI]

If anyone has a video footage of Holding in Australia and West Indies in the 1970s or max. 1980. Please contact me....HE IS THE BEST

[M4st3rm1nd]

Nice to see turncoat-cum-England skipper Tony Greig get his leg-stump kncoked down.

[thishula]

whooooo ever u ppl may be,there is no legend in th world ohter than Michael holding when it comes to fast bowling.This guy is said to have bowled faster than 160 kmph.if only speed guns existed during his time.a man with his fingertips reaching below his knees,hes da best.hadly is of no comparison to this big guy.who was a 400m olympic athlete

[SAMJE123456]

Plus the batters didnt wear helmets in them days.Brilliant bowler brave batters great times of cricket.

[cornishmuppet7]

yeah this guy was good but i believe richard hadlee was better all roud because of his sheer accuracy, how many people take a wicket with the last ball they bowl in test cricket!

[vymmas]

Decline of west indian cricket is a real shame. Remember the black washes in the 80s when i was a kid and just thought it would always be like that. Liverpool would always win the league and the windies would always demolish us in cricket.

[mickpara]

M.A Holding was my favourite .I bOWLER GROWING UP IN THE 80'S...wHAT A BEATIFUL RUNUP ACTION..pERFECT REALLY!!Venoumous pace..!Thanks for the memmories !

[mkha6]

Poetry in motion.

His movement is graceful.

[gingedaywalker101]

just beautiful, whispering death no one now can bowl that fast the smoothly they all use brute force, look at Shaun tait then look a this.

[grahamcooksie]

man no bowler in the history of the game even comes close to matching the beauty of mikeys action, just lillee perhaps....

[GAFFERPHE]

Savage bowling from a master. I remember Tony Greig saying in advance of that series of how England were gonna do this and that to the Windies, so seeing Holding almost smash Greig's stumps was poetic justice. What a bowler, what an attack they had back then.

[manwalrus]

"I intend to make them grovel" my ass.

[GAFFERPHE]

Ta man!  I couldn't quite remember his words! What a clown.

[duhduh666]

Brilliant! Benaud summarized Holding's action and delivery perfectly.

[fizan786]

true legend, theres no bowler that compares to him these days

[MrTactless42]

Awesome. One of the greatest. Wish I'd seen him play.

[ffs2006]

legend

[Smickersgill]

I'm researching a TV documentary about this test series. I'm looking for people who were at this test match and ran on the pitch when Greig was out. If you were there, send me a message.

[LeamingtonSteve]

I remember my dad watching it on TV

[elsmallo]

I love the kids mobbing the pitch when Knott gets out! The kids nowadays are probably too scared of security..or they don't go to watch cricket.

[Ra1nemaker]

Thanks for this wonderful memory. I believe Michael's nickname was 'Whispering Death'! Oh Happy Days!

[5kaisers]

You just don't see fast bowling like this anymore. This guy was a superb athlete as well as a supreme fast bowler. The most beautiful fast bowling action I have ever seen! Smooth, controlled, but deadly like a viper!! Ask Geoffrey Boycott?

[machan88]

Pace with grace...

[escalateme]

awesome, smooth and poetic

[gingedaywalker101]

wats great is he hardly looks like hes trying at all yet the stumps come out of the ground. Him, walsh, ambrose, marshall and trueman are the best pace bowlers ever glenn mcgrath just a boring accurate medium pacer

[grahamcooksie]

man that was amazing, i only heard about this guy from my mum and dad and older brother and how amazing he was. That was just pure raw run up and bowl as fast as you can , straight and fast, id hate to face that kinda stuff! Now i just see him commentating and doing pitch reports. That atmosphere at the oval right next to brixton must have been amazing!

[gingedaywalker101]

bar Mcgrath if Holding played as any tests as Mcgrath he would have taken abut 1000 wickets just look at the averages. Mcgrath is all about accuracy hes not even the best pace bowler in the world at the moment.

[kockachumpy]

quite possibly the greatest bowling action of all time

[bluewiz28]

They called him the 'Viceroy' enough said!!!

[Harriieee]

they also called him "whispering death"...

[Carl40]

Best fast bowler I ever saw...never forget the over he bowled to Geoff Boycott in Barbados 1981 Test Series..murderously quick...was awestruck by it.

[ukgolfa]

This is the greatest fast bowler in full-flight you'll ever witness in the history of the game. Worth looking for more highlights. Thanks for taking me back 30 years.

[daddycarty]

anyone who says holding was just ok really dont know much about fast bowling. holding was and still is considered one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time

[donraj71]

one of the greats - quick and hostile

[Thor17]

They didn't call him 'whispering death' for nothing!

[byk90]

holding was ok.. but compared to quicks now.. hees nothing..

[jonnyb67]

Hes way better than anything you see nowadays bar McGrath

[skycruiser777]

your having a laugh right? McGrath has nothing on Holding, Garner, Walsh or Marshall

[jamcricketer07]

i strive to bowl like dis



[datpan]

one of the greatest quiks