Holding to retire from commentary

Legendary Windies fast bowler, now commentator, Michael Holding, says he doesn’t see himself going past next year as a pundit.

Holding, who was speaking on the Mason and Guest radio talk show in Barbados, says he may hang up the microphone after the season is over, after doing the stint for close to three decades.

“I am not too sure how much further than 2020 I will be going with commentary,” Holding said. “I cannot see myself going much further down the road at my age. I am 66 years old now, I am not 36, 46 or 56.”

The Jamaican, who played 60 Test matches for the Windies, started doing cricket commentary in 1991 in the Caribbean, where he worked for Trans World International before moving on to Sky Sports, where he has been for the last 21 years.

Holding, who also does stints with Super Sports in South Africa, says he will be honouring his contract for this season before he decides to call it a day.

“I told [ Sky] that I could not commit to more than a year at a time,” he said. “If this year gets totally destroyed, I might have to think about 2021 because I can’t just walk away from Sky, a company that has done so much good for me.”

When asked if he would be interested in working in the Caribbean, Holding, who has not done a home Test match since 2012, said it was impossible.

REPRESENTATION

The fast bowler, dubbed ‘Whispering Death’ during his playing days in the ‘70s and ‘80s, says he is happy to walk away from his involvement with cricket, knowing that good things are on the horizon for the regional side.

“Another thing that I am happy with is that youngsters are now looking forward to representing the Windies again, and everybody is now making themselves available again, which is important,” he said.

“I see light at the end of the tunnel because I see talent. Once there is talent, there has to be light at the end of the tunnel.”

Holding went on to single out batsmen Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer and Shai Hope as players who can lead the charge for the Windies resurgence.

“Those three guys are three of the most talented I have seen in the last three to four years,” he said. “When I look at cricketers, I look at who can make other teams around the world, and those three guys can make most other teams.”

The former Derbyshire fast bowler also mentioned that he wants to see the Windies get back to being highly competitive at the Test and One-Day International level, and he was hoping that the region would not only build cricketers, but people of substance who could go on to benefit the Caribbean.