From Distant Lands to Derbyshire 7 - Michael Holding

Even for a county with the history of seam bowling that we have, Michael Holding was special.

The lineage from Warren and Bestwick through Copson, Pope, Gladwin, Jackson, Rhodes and Hendrick was generally of an accurate fast-medium, or medium-fast, depending on your preference. Rhodes could be quick for a few overs, Copson could too, but for the rest it was a case of being quick enough to be awkward, rather than really, really scary.

Alan Ward was very quick for too short a time, but when Michael Holding joined Derbyshire in 1983, at 29 he was probably the best fast bowler in the world. Watching him from the boundary edge was an awe-inspiring sight and one can only guess what it was like to be at the business end, 22 yards away.

I'd seen him over the previous years emerge as a lithe, graceful, athletic bowler who looked like his action was the best grooved and lissome in the history of the game. Whereas some quick bowlers - Ward being a good example - looked like they were quick despite their action, Holding gave the impression that everything from the top of his run to the release of the ball was a well-grooved machine.  Even that run up was a thing of beauty, although he could easily reduce it, as he did as years passed, yet still be capable of a ball of genuine pace.

For those of you too young to have seen Michael in his pomp, have a look at this legendary spell against England in 1976

In his first four or five summers at the club, there was always the possibility that he would replicate that sort of spell, turning an innings that was coasting into disarray in a few overs. He got pace from the most lifeless of tracks, yet had the nous not to try and bowl every ball at top speed.

In his early thirties he was still a superb bowler. The real pace had gone, but he was hard to get away and there was always the possibility of the occasional really quick ball to surprise batsmen. He was a wonderful asset to Kim Barnett when he took over the captaincy of the team, a go-to bowler who would take the ball, especially in one-day games, when the scoring rate needed slowed down or a wicket was needed.

He still holds the best List A bowling figures for Derbyshire, with his 8-21 against Sussex at Hove in 1988. For that matter, I'd suggest that he is likely to do for a long time to come. Reports suggested that it was swing and movement, rather than pace that did for the south coast side that day and the only disappointment is that few Derbyshire fans were there to see it.

Nor was he a bad batsman and many a run chase was enlivened by some lavish Caribbean strokes. Again, he was happy to go in and swing the bat with nary a thought of average, something that was appreciated by his team mates, as well as by supporters.

I have always had an issue with the series of books by a well-known publisher that list a hundred 'greats' of a given county. The issue is in how you measure greatness. If it is on a local scale, one would probably struggle to name more than thirty that met with any applicable criteria from a Derbyshire perspective. If it is on an international scale, then the number of players concerned in our colours would be in single figures.

Beyond any doubt, Michael Holding would be up there in the top three. In an age where fast bowlers are wrapped in cotton wool by their national cricket masters and their workload is constantly monitored, I can safely say that we will never see his like again.

I'm just glad that I was around to see it.