By Tony McWatt
Everyone who has followed Michael Holding’s career as a cricket Commentator
would have been forewarned of his now announced retirement at least two years
ago when he had indicated publicly that it would only be a matter of time before
he permanently “switched off his mike!”Yet, I was admittedly caught somewhat off
guard when I first saw the news of his retirement on a Facebook post very early on
the September 16 morning.
I have enjoyed the honor and privilege of having a personal relationship with
Mikey, as he is familiarly known, which hopefully will still continue now that he has
stepped out of the public eye. My own reaction to the news of his retirement was
in so many ways, however, identical to the sense of loss that has since been echoed
by thousands of cricket fans across the globe. In the time that has now passed
since his retirement was made public, I have found myself revisiting some of the
countless joys my association with the great man has provided me over the past
now almost fifty years!
It was in 1973 when I first saw Michael Holding in action, bowling for Jamaica
in a Shell Shield Match against Guyana that was being played Bourda. Holding’s
reputation as an express quick fast bowler had preceded his actual appearance
in the match among myself and the Club’s other Associate Members with cricket
playing aspirations.
We had all listened in awe weeks before as Faoud Bacchus, our fellow club
member had regaled us with his story of having himself faced Holding a few
months prior during the Guyana-Jamaica match in the Barbados hosted 1972
West Indies Benson & Hedges Championships. According to Faoud, the very
first delivery he received as Guyana’s opening bat from Holding, who opened the
bowling for Jamaica was a bouncer that was so quick that the ball was upon him
even before he was halfway through his attempted hook shot. So much so in fact
that the ball instead flew of the edge of Faoud’s bat, soaring h igh over the wicketkeeper’s
head, before eventually landing beyond the ropes of the fine leg boundary
for six!
Holding’s resulting, already favorably entrenched, stature in my mind was even
further enhanced during his “Bourda debut!” Bowling with outstanding pace,
he captured the wickets of two of my all-time favorite Guyanese batsmen,
both of whom I also knew personally, Roy “Freddo” Fredericks and Alvin” Kally”
Kallicharran. Kally like Faoud was also a fellow GCC member.
As fate would have it on the very same evening after he’d captured Freddo and
Kally’s wickets the Jamaican Team Manager JK Holt who was also at that time
a West Indies Selector visited our Forshaw Street home at the invitation of my
father, Clifford McWatt. JK and my Dad were the best of friends as a result of
the bonds they had formed as fellow team members and joint holders of the now
still standing best ever 8th wicket Test batting partnership for the West Indies vs
England.
I spent a good portion of that evening discussing with JK my thoughts on the
composition of the West Indies squad that would be touring England later that
year. Foremost among which was my suggestion as to Holding’s inclusion in the
Squad. JK’s smiling response was “he’s not quite ready, just yet. Maybe in another
couple of years!”
Michael Holding of course went on to make his debut for the West Indies during
the 1975 Down Under Series against Australia. Following an outstanding twelve-year career as a now legendary fast bowler of the highest order, he subsequently
became a cricket commentary. Initially as a “Comments Man” for radio broadcasts
of Caribbean hosted Tests and ODI’s, before eventually evolving into television.
As one journalist noted, Mikey’s assertions in his analysis of the game were just as
piercing as any of the express paced deliveries he bowled during his halcyon fast
bowling days! His descriptive delivery of unfolding events during a Test match
was just as smooth and equally economical as his run-up to the crease which had
earned him the title of “whispering death!”
“Runs… four of them!”
Scores of tributes on Mikey Holding’s commentary skills have now been written
since the announcement of his retirement. The following extract from Parth
Pandya is topmost among the very finest of the many I have read.
“For over three decades, Holding has been a constant feature on cricket
broadcasting in one part of the world or another. Growing familiar with Holding’s
commentary almost bred a reassuring sense of comfort. And he achieved this
without ever really reinventing himself to any considerable degree. His static
notes, his pauses, his uniquely composed demeanor and his generally unexcitable
persona remained his brand for as long as he called a game. Where Holding
remarkably stood out, though, was he never allowed his status as a bonafide
legend from his playing days to influence or overshadow his role in the media!”
As one of those who has been as greater an admirer of Michael Holding the
Commentator as I was of him as a player, and punctuated as that admiration has
been by the honour of our personal interactions over the years, I would only now
simply add Thanks for all the endless joys, Mikey. Much Appreciated!