Michael Holding contemplating retirement from commentary

Michael Holding, the former West Indies cricketer, reckoned that he doesn’t have much left in the tank as far as commentary is concerned. The now 66-year-old started doing cricket commentary back in 1991 where he worked for the Trans World International. Thereafter, the retired speedster moved to Sky Sports where he has been plying his trade for the last 21 years.

The Kingston, Jamaica-born Holding has also had stints with Super Sports in South Africa. At this stage of his career, the veteran prefers to take one year at a time. Holding, who had played 60 Tests and 102 ODIs for the Caribbean team, also said that it’s ‘impossible’ for him to do a home Test match after last being seen way back in 2012.

I can’t just walk away from Sky: Michael Holding

“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,” Holding was quoted as saying on the Mason and Guest radio talk show in Barbados.

“I told [ Sky] that I could not commit to more than a year at a time. 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 stated.

Holding also zeroed in on Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope and Nicholas Pooran as the ones, who he believes should be taking West Indies cricket forward. He said that the trio are amongst the most talented players he has seen in the last few years.

“Those three guys are three of the most talented I have seen in the last three to four years. When I look at cricketers, I look at who can make other teams around the world, and those three guys can make most other teams,” he added.

During his playing days, Holding was known as the ‘Whispering Death’ and he ended up picking 249 and 142 wickets in Tests and ODIs respectively. Overall, the fast bowler had over 1,100 wickets, combining the first-class and List A formats.