Michael Holding, a former West Indies fast bowler, is recognized for his incisive and intelligent cricket analysis. Last year, during the West Indies tour of England, Holding took center stage with an impassioned statement against racism televised on Sky Sports, which was acclaimed and loved by the whole cricketing world and beyond.
Holding stated his vehement opposition to T20 cricket in an interview with the national daily The Indian Express, discussing the sport’s influence in the West Indies. When asked why he hasn’t commented on the Indian Premier Competition (IPL), probably the most popular franchise T20 league in the world, he delivered a scathing reaction.
When questioned about the West Indies’ rebirth of cricket after winning the T20 World Cup for the second time in 2016, Holding stated he didn’t believe the shortest format to be “even cricket.”
“When you win a T20 tournament, that is not revival; it’s not even cricket! It’s going to be very difficult for the West Indies to get on top in Test cricket because of this T20,” Holding told the The Indian Express.
“The T20 tournaments around the world are the bane of the game. When you are a poor country and can’t afford to pay as much as England, Australia, and India, the players will go on to play T20. This is where the West Indies and others are being hammered “he added.
Various West Indies cricketers have chosen to play franchise cricket rather than for the national side in recent years, and there have been several financial issues between the board and the players. Holding claimed that the administrators, not the players, were to blame for the situation.
“When you are earning 600,000 or 800,000 dollars for six weeks, what are you going to do? I don’t blame the cricketers. I blame the administrators. They give a lot of lip service to Test cricket but all they are interested in is bringing in money into their cupboards… West Indies will win T20 tournaments which aren’t cricket; they won’t be a force in Test cricket,” Holding said
When asked why he hasn’t found commentating in IPL interesting, Holding said, “I only commentate on cricket.’
Michael Holding was a part of the West Indies squad that won the World Cup in 1979 and came in second in 1983. He was a member of Clive Lloyd’s famed pace quartet that led West Indies to the pinnacle of Test cricket in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
For the West Indies, he took 249 wickets in 60 Test matches and 142 wickets in 102 One-Day Internationals.
