West Indies cricket great Michael Holding has said that he is calling curtains on his role as commentator due to personal reasons. The former fast bowler had hinted at a decision to retire from commentary earlier this month and now seems to have confirmed it.
“My decision is very personal and only my employers know my situation which I will not make public, so sorry,” Holding was quoted as saying by Mumbai Mirror.
Earlier in April, Holding had said that he is unlikely to continue his commentary work beyond 2021 as age is catching up with him. The 66-year-old Holding has been with the Sky Sports for the past 21 years.
“I am not too sure how much further than 2020 I will be going with commentary. I cannot see myself going much further down the road at my age. I am 66 years old now, I am not 36, 46 or 56,” the fast-bowling legend had told the Mason and Guest radio talk show in Barbados.
The West Indian has a reputation for being a straight talker on air. During the Men’s ODI World Cup last year, the International Cricket Council had asked him to cut down on the criticism of umpires on air. But he had immediately hit back at the governing body for the censorship.
The ICC in an e-mail to Holding and his colleagues reminded them of “the importance of maintaining the highest standards and uphold the game’s best values and spirit while covering the tournament”.
But Holding, who is known to be vocal in his opinions, wrote in his reply “commentators are being more and more compromised by controlling organisations to the point of censorship”.
Holding was critical of the umpires during West Indies’ game against Australia last week where Chris Gayle was dismissed on a delivery that should have been a Free-Hit after Mitchell Starc had overstepped while bowling the previously delivery. Holder was given out leg-before off Adam Zampa whereas replays showed the ball had been pitched outside the leg-stump.
Holding, who played 60 Test matches for the West Indies, said he might need to think extending his stint by a year if no cricket is held this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“I told [Sky] that I could not commit to more than a year at a time,” said Holding, who started doing cricket commentary in 1991 in the Caribbean.
“If this year gets totally destroyed, I might have to think about 2021 because I can’t just walk away from Sky, a company that has done so much good for me,” he added.
With PTI inputs
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