More from John on Narine & Pitches

27th January 2016

Overthrows  – backing up strong returns

John Holder has followed up on his previous comments on Sunil Narine and pitches:

Hi David,

The reasons why so much time and effort are being put into remodelling Narine’s action are twofold. He is a match winner in one day cricket and he can earn a fortune in so doing. But the reality is that I do not know of any chucker who has been successful after undergoing remedial work on his action. If you were to see Saeed Ajmal bowl now you would be amazed. His action looks nothing like it did when he was chucking and he is now totally ineffective. I have not seen Shillingford but his results post working with Vasbert Drakes speak volumes.

Back in my Hampshire days, Tony Lock had to undergo similar work because he threw his faster ball. He left Surrey and played for Leicester. In a county match against us, he was bowling to Peter Sainsbury who was fighting a dogged rearguard action to avert defeat. Suddenly, and to Sainsbury’s amazement, a ball whistled past his nostrils to the keeper. Lock had resorted back to throwing.

There was also the South African fast bowler Geoff Griffin who was called for throwing. His career came to an early end despite efforts to correct his throwing.

There is a Barbadian groundsman, Paul Taylor who was second in command at Northampton who would be the ideal person to advise the Caribbean umpires on groundsmanship.He did a fantastic job at Northants and would be only too happy to help the WICB. Obviously, he would have to be paid but for me he is the ideal man.

Regards

John

John’s comment on Lock reminds me of the old story about Doug Insole. Once when bowled by Lock he turned to the square leg umpire to ask whether he’d been bowled or run out!

Meanwhile, here’s further news about John:

http://www.oldham-chronicle.co.uk/news-features/13/local-sport-news/96380/pennine-president-position-for-holder

Congratulations, sir!

John Holder is a highly respected former international umpire, who stood in Tests & ODIs between 1988-2001, and in 1st-class cricket from 1982-2009. He was also the innovative mind behind the introduction of the ‘bowl-out’ to settle washed out one-day games.

John Holder responds to our podcast re poor pitches & Sunil Narine

26th January 2016

Overthrows  – backing up strong returns

Another very welcome missive from John Holder. He dropped me a line to react to a couple of the issues that Reds and I discussed in our latest Willow in the WIndies podcast, which you can still hear here, focusing on poor pitches and the continuing confusion surrounding Sunil Narine:

Hi David,

It was interesting listening to you and Reds discussing the poor quality of pitches in the Caribbean and the ongoing efforts to remedy Narine’s chucking.

Back in 2008 when I worked for ICC, I was asked by the WICB to submit a report on the quality of pitches and preparation in the Caribbean. This I did, with special mention of Guyana and Port of Spain. What concerned me most was that the pitches were virtual baked mud, on which the ball hardly bounced. Groundsmen shaved every blade of grass off the pitches, leaving lifeless mud surfaces on which the ball did not bounce, or come on to the bat. This led to boring cricket as batsmen could not play attacking strokes and there was no life for bowlers. I never even received an acknowledgement from the WICB, much less a thank you.

In 2010 while in Guyana during the T20 World Cup, I had a long conversation with Andy Atkinson the ICC pitch specialist. I knew Andy from England where he had been head groundsman for Essex and with whom I had worked while umpiring there. Andy was regarded as one of the country’s best groundsmen. He told me that a big problem in the Caribbean was that the pitches needed grass to help the ball to bounce and carry to the keeper. He simply could not get groundsmen to leave grass on the pitches.

I remember watching an inter-island 50 overs match at Providence between Guyana and the Combined Campuses. Chanderpaul and Sarwan, two Test batsmen, struggled to get the ball off the square because the bounce was below knee-high. There was not a blade of grass on its surface. The cricket was boring.

On the subject of bowlers throwing, I cannot recall any thrower in the past 50 years whose action was remedied. Jermaine Lawson, Shane Shillingford, Saeed Ajmal and now Johan Botha are among those who have failed. I first saw Shillingford and Ajmal in 2010 blatantly throwing and was amazed that they were not called. Both have had remedial work done on their actions, as a result of which they cannot spin the ball. Ajmal played for Worcester in England last summer. The change in his action is plain to see but he no longer spins the ball. Once a chucker, always a chucker.

Regards

John

I replied:  

Reaction to Chris Gayle’s Instagram Comments by John Holder

24th January 2016

Patrolling the Boundary  – a view from the outfield

John Holder dropped me a line yesterday, sharing his views on Chris Gayle’s recent reply to his critics via instagram (which you can read here):

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/jan/20/chris-gayle-hits-out-at-critics-but-says-he-wants-another-stint-in-australia

Hi David,

Gayle’s pathetic outburst after leaving the BBL, saying that his critics can kiss his black ass demonstrated clearly how arrogant and stupid he really is. Only someone lacking humility would say that the Aussie cricket public loves him would make that comment, even if it was true.

His comment to the female interviewer was unprofessional, totally out-of-place and NOT FUNNY. The £5000 fine imposed by his club should have been the end of the matter and Ian Chappell’s call for him to be banned by cricket boards around the world was hypocritical and way over the top. Chappell’s career was littered with instances of bad behaviour, one of which I witnessed, so he should have been the last person to criticise.

But after Gayle’s vulgar outburst, I would be glad if he was banned by boards around the world.

He would have been better putting his foot in his mouth.

Regards

John

John Holder on Chappell, Gayle and DRS

15th January 2016

Patrolling the Boundary  – a view from the outfield

It’s always a delight to hear from former international umpire John Holder. His views are always strong – and honest!

He dropped me a line recently in response to Ian Chappell’s remarks about Chris Gayle – which unfortunately got held up in the internet wires between him in Lancashire and me here in Islamabad – but they’re still a timely observation on the sort of opinions that emanate regularly from the ‘expert’ ex-player driven cricket media.

But before reading that below, I want to flag up an interview John did elsewhere this week with Alan Biggs for the football website You Are the Ref, which among other things regularly sets readers little posers about soccer’s laws. John is the adjudicator for the sister cricket-version of the conundrums, You Are the Umpire. John’s interview, in which he talks candidly about the game, and in particular his mis-trust of DRS (the Decision Review System) can be viewed here:

http://you-are-the-ref.com/video-yatr-talk-to-cricket-umpire-john-holder/

Interestingly, John refers early on to ‘an Australian blog’ which recently talked about the particular inefficiencies of DRS, and its use. He is surely referring to Dennis Freedman’s recent short video on the subject, which I recommend you watch here:

http://dennisdoescricket.com/why-do-india-hate-the-drs-so-much/

John Holder on the Sabina Park pitch of 1998

3rd November 2015

Overthrows  – backing up strong returns

I had feedback yesterday from John Holder regarding our most recent edition of  ‘Willow in the WIndies‘:

Hi David,

Yet another interesting, thought provoking blog but I must take issue about the comments from you and Reds about that disgraceful Sabina Park pitch when Steve Bucknor and his colleague abandoned the match. The pitch was POOR and DANGEROUS. The speed and hostility of Walsh and Ambrose were irrelevant. The problem was the grossly erratic bounce with balls whizzing past Atherton and Stewart’s nostrils then shooting along at ground level from the same length. Whoever prepared the pitch, or advised the groundsman and the WICB were to blame. I saw several close-ups of the surface which was corrugated. Having re-laid the pitch, the authorities should have made sure that cricket was played on it to check the trueness of the bounce. Clearly that did not happen, yet another example of maladministration, typical of the WICB.

We are presently having a glorious autumn, more of an Indian Autumn that an Indian Summer.

Best wishes

John