Thread: Michael Holding born #onthisday 1954
It was languid verse as he ran in and destructive pace as he ended — a rhythmic lead-up to a wrecking finish.
He turned around from far, far away, where the eyes had to squint to glimpse his form.
#cricket #michaelholding
It was languid verse as he ran in and destructive pace as he ended — a rhythmic lead-up to a wrecking finish.
He turned around from far, far away, where the eyes had to squint to glimpse his form.
#cricket #michaelholding
And then he ran in fluid, silent, long strides, with an action almost hypnotic in its grace and athleticism.
As he waltzed into his follow-through, the ball darted at rates seldom witnessed.
His stealthy, extensive run up was soundless and serene.
Umpires were seldom aware of his approach till the corner of their eyes caught him stretched in his delivery stride.
Umpires were seldom aware of his approach till the corner of their eyes caught him stretched in his delivery stride.
Not for nothing was he was he called "Whispering Death."
In 60 Tests, he ended up with 249 wickets at 23.68, boasting a strike rate of 50.9.
Whispering … he used to strike in silence.
Whispering … he used to strike in silence.
And then, when required, 33 years after his retirement, he raised his voice.
A voice that had for long been popular in the commentary box, readily recognised and often lovingly imitated … now boomed out from the depths of his soul, and that of his people.
The sham that masquerades as racial equality was blown away by the same man who used to send middle-stumps cartwheeling.
“This is something I’ve had inside me for years,” he said.
It was something that was inside the society for years. A society that needed fixing.
#BlackLivesMatter #BlackHistoryMonth
It was something that was inside the society for years. A society that needed fixing.
#BlackLivesMatter #BlackHistoryMonth
The way to fix it, he said, was to make the new generation aware of the past. To look into the pages of history to find out the dark past.
Michael Holding fought to choke back his tears as he spoke … and as emotions welled up, the dam of polite politically correct restraint was demolished and mass consciousness gushed through as the #BlackLivesMatter movement.
The words reverberated. A society that needed fixing. The way to fix it was to make the next generation aware of the past.
Well, a month later, a ‘cricket historian’ thought I had written far too much about the politics of apartheid South Africa when writing about the Stop The Seventy Tour movement — In my book titled Apartheid: A Point to Cover! `
amazon.co.uk/dp/9492203030
amazon.co.uk/dp/9492203030
“Why merge politics with sport?” the perennial query of the 1960s was echoed.
Some things will remain a sham, in spite of powerful voices and gestures across time
Some things will remain a sham, in spite of powerful voices and gestures across time
Even BLM is often converted into one and will continue to be.
Like ridiculous eyeball-grabbing articles on BLM in archaic cricket magazines with mediocre English county cricketers voicing their ‘liberal sentiments’ - they were big enough men West Indian cricketers in the 1980s
Like ridiculous eyeball-grabbing articles on BLM in archaic cricket magazines with mediocre English county cricketers voicing their ‘liberal sentiments’ - they were big enough men West Indian cricketers in the 1980s
(Yes, in the1980s these county cricketers were supposedly doing the Malcolm Marshalls, the Joel Garners and the Wayne Daniels a favour by allowing them in the same dressing room that were being graced by their pristine English presence.)
Hypocrisy and patronising will continue. Some such actions will even be blessed with knighthood...
But hope peeps out once in a while when someone like Michael Holding speaks in the way he did.
Many of his spells were mesmerising. So was his speech. It cast a spell. A much needed spell.
Many of his spells were mesmerising. So was his speech. It cast a spell. A much needed spell.
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