Favourite cricketers 8 - Michael Holding

Michael Holding is one of the greatest cricketers I have ever seen.

Added to that, he's probably one of the "coolest" men I've ever met. With an immaculate appearance, and a voice like molasses, he is imposing, striking and authoritative.

As a cricketer he was superb. Not just the fact that he was fast. He was UNBELIEVABLY fast. With Malcolm Marshall and Joel Garner he shared a high intelligence that allowed him to bowl fast when conditions were in his favour, and cut down his pace and move it around when there was cloud cover.

I remember seeing footage of him as a professional in the Lancashire League, pushing off the sightscreen at a small ground when the full glory of the most graceful run up in the game was unfurled. Maybe he wouldn't have been at his fastest on what was a bitterly cold day, as he was bowling in several sweaters! One can only imagine how the opening batsmen were feeling, perhaps replaying the legendary over that he bowled to Geoff Boycott in advance of the red missile hurtling towards them. This after the smoothest, light-footed run up the game has seen, for all the world that of the 400m runner he was in his youth.

For all his success in the international game, Holding was in a class of his own as a county professional. Kim Barnett recalls him being happy to bowl whenever asked, and putting his hand up to do so when the batsmen were getting away and a few tight overs were required. That was the beauty of the man. He didn't only want to bowl when things were in his favour, he would do so whenever the captain needed it. How great an asset is a man who could bowl very quickly at the start of the innings and then come back as a stock bowler later on.

He was a great asset to Kim Barnett, but he could bat as well. Numerous innings were enlivened by a quick blast from the Holding willow. He holds the record for sixes hit by a batsman with fewer than 1,000 Test runs, but didn't need to bat much in that West Indian team. For Derbyshire he could bat with restraint if needed and he had a safe pair of hands. These skills paled alongside the glory of his bowling, however. I will never forget his one man demolition of Sussex at Hove in 1988, when he took 8-21 with the finest bowling you could ever wish to see. That day he seemed to have the ball on a string, ready to jerk away from the bat, just when the batsman thought he had it covered. While distance lends enchantment, I cannot remember anyone collaring him in one day cricket. With him at one end and "Eric Bloodaxe" - Ole Mortensen at the other, there were few runs off the opening attack

Whispering Death they called him. John Wright recalls with a mixture of amusement and annoyance the way that the opposition were delighted to see that he was playing - as it meant that Holding himself was not.

Before he left Derbyshire, Holding fixed us up with the immensely talented but ultimately unfulfilled Ian Bishop, almost as fast, close to aesthetically perfect but with a back problem that curtailed his career. It was symbolic of the man that he left us with the bases covered. It is now as great a pleasure to listen to his mellifluous tones in commentary.

The old timers write of the glory of such bowlers as Tom Richardson and George Lohmann. They may well have been great, but I saw Michael Holding.