Michael Holding Blames International Schedule For Cricketers’ Burnout

Legendary former Jamaica and West Indies pacer Michael Holding said in a press report that the current international schedule of games is having a negative effect not only on the quality of test cricket and but also in the development of quality players.

“I think the calendar is getting a little too exhaustive with three formats of the game and I think that’s the reason why we are not really seeing a lot of outstanding cricketers and outstanding teams; the workload is just too heavy,” posited Holding.

Holding is known to be one of the fastest bowlers ever to play Test cricket. He was nicknamed “Whispering Death” by umpires due to his quiet approach to the bowling crease.

His bowling was smooth and very fast, and he used his height to generate large amounts of bounce and zip off the pitch. He was part of the fearsome West Indian pace battery, together with Joel Garner,

With 249 wickets in 60 tests and 142 wickets in 102 One Day Internationals, the former paceman not only has bragging rights but certainly knows how grueling the game of cricket can be.

He opined that the longest format of the game is getting more insignificant but a lot can be done to draw fans to the games.

“People give me the excuse that oh five days is too long but I don’t agree; Wimbledon is more than five days and the golf tournaments around the world are four days and people pack into the golf tournaments every day,” argued Holding.

Carol Maye, Readers Bureau