From Distant Lands to Derbyshire 8: Ian Bishop

When the news broke that Michael Holding was retiring from the county game in 1989, one could almost imagine the parties that were being organised around the county circuit by top order batsmen. No more would they have to face a lightning-quick bowler on their visits to Derby and Chesterfield. Life was going to be good.

Then the news broke that Holding had helped to persuade Ian Bishop to replace him. Whispering Death had been replaced by Greased Lightning...

They alternated in 1989, the veteran passing on his wisdom to the new kid in town. He will doubtless have told him to pace himself, though there was little evidence of that as Bishop tore in. On the boundary, there were sage nods, whistles through pursed lips and chuckles as opposition batsmen hurried their strokes, ducked, dived and hoped to get off the strike.

If I'm honest, Bishop brought the raw, sustained pace that Holding would have had in his prime and was probably quicker than the Holding that we saw at Derbyshire, certainly over sustained spells. He had a long, straight run that led into a classical, sideways on action and the release of a ball at frightening speed. As back injuries interrupted his career, that early action became more chest on, but Bishop continued to swing and cut the ball, a potent combination with that blistering pace. Has any county had two fast bowlers of such reputation at the same time?

We saw him a few times in 1990 and he blew Yorkshire away at Chesterfield, taking seven wickets in the match against a side who simply didn't look comfortable against him. Much the same happened against Kent, the two openers removed in the blink of an eye, the tail blown away, courtesy of Karl Krikken and the slip cordon.  Against India in a one-day game, he only took one wicket but caused all sorts of trouble for Sachin Tendulkar, before the 17 year old got his footwork going and hit his first one-day century. Prior to that, the Indian's highest one-day score was just 36...

Yet he also displayed the naivety of youth in that game, perhaps continuing to bowl short on a lively track when there would have been greater merit in pitching it up and beating the hesitant forward defensive push for pace. Holding would have done, but you can't buy experience.

 1989 brought 41 wickets at 23, that 1990 season a further 59 at 19 in a season where Adrian Kuiper played the one-day matches with great success. Bishop, Devon Malcolm and Ole Mortensen gave Derbyshire a potency that few counties could handle and the three of them were a wonderful sight. Bishop was appreciated for his languid style, easy personality and a willingness to chat, all of which carried through to his subsequent broadcasting career. He could handle a bat too, a century against Yorkshire suggesting that as his career developed he may venture into the realms of all-rounder.

1991 saw the first major absence with back trouble and he hardly played. There were suggestions that he might not be back but he reappeared in 1992 and, with a remodelled action, cut a swathe through batting line ups with 64 wickets at just 17.

He was an awesome sight and the ball would thud into the wicket-keeper's gloves almost before the batsman had got into position. Check out this footage of him bowling for the West Indies against England in 1990 and just picture him steaming in from the pavilion end at Chesterfield...

That 1992 summer was, sadly, the last we saw of Ian Bishop at Derbyshire, though his first-class career continued, with too many interruptions, until the winter of 1998-99. He retired, much earlier than should have been the case, at the age of 31 and has subsequently enjoyed a successful career in the media.

549 first-class wickets at 23, 196 more in one-day games. I have a feeling that Bishop could have gone down as one of the all-time greats had he been blessed with a more robust spine. Like Malcolm Marshall, he had a rare ability to find movement in both directions and to do so at a pace that could be matched by very few.

Put it this way. If you had Ian Bishop at one end and Michael Holding at the other, the chances are that the top six would be padded up, just in case...

A very, very fine bowler.