West Indies’ leg-spinning all-rounder, who passed away on Monday, served his region’s cricket in many capacities, but will be best remembered for his match-saving partnership with first cousin Garry Sobers at Lord’s in 1966
West Indies fans rush onto the pitch to congratulate David Holford (inset too) for his century as a policeman watches during the Lord’s Test of 1966. Pics/Getty Images
You’ve heard about brothers featuring in the same Test team, but how many times have you noticed two sets of first cousins appearing in the same Test team? Well, the West Indies playing XI for the opening Test of the 1966-67 series against India at the Brabourne Stadium had exactly that. The cousins were debutant Clive Lloyd and Lance Gibbs from Guyana while skipper Garry Sobers and David Holford from Barbados made up the other pair.
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Holford passed away on Monday at 82 in Barbados after a prolonged illness.
He served West Indies cricket in several roles (manager, chief selector and mentor to many a player) apart from being a quality leggie and batsman, who began his 24-Test career on the 1966 tour of England.
Interestingly, being over 35 didn’t prevent him from being picked for Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket in 1978. That was after he had played his last Test in the home series against Pakistan in 1976-77.
In the season prior to his final Test series, he produced a 5-23 spell which helped West Indies bowl out India for just 177 in the first innings of the opening Test at Barbados in 1976. Andy Roberts and Michael Holding tormented the Indians more than the leg-spinner did but he would have been proud of the fact that the fifer came in his Test comeback- after four years.
It was a performance described by Tony Cozier in Sportsweek as, “flattering in the extreme and achieved with conspiracy with the Indian batsmen. Gundappa Viswanath and Surinder Amarnath were victims in his very first over, both pulling long hops to midwicket. Madan Lal, Erapalli Prasanna and Bishan Singh Bedi all fell to aggressive shots made with their heads in the air.”
Cozier slammed the Indian batting, calling it a pathetic show while the close catching and Syed Kirmani’s wicketkeeping fell in the “inept” category in Cozier’s book. Holford claimed only Kirmani’s wicket in India’s second innings as the visitors lost the Test by an innings and 97 runs.
India achieved a remarkable win in the third Test at Trinidad before losing the fourth in Kingston, where they were flattened by the pace of Michael Holding.
Holford’s finest hour was undoubtedly the century he scored at Lord’s in 1966. West Indies encountered turbulence in their second innings. Captain Sobers was joined by his cousin at 95-5. Sobers recalled what he told Holford mid-pitch in King Cricket, a book on the 1966 tour of England and his 2002-released autobiography. While the instruction to eschew the aggressive shots was clear, Sobers also reminded the young gun that no one could get him out on such a flat track and he should treat the task as if he was batting on their home ground - the Kensington Oval in Barbados.
Sobers went about attacking the England bowling and their skipper Colin Cowdrey spread the field with each passing successful West Indies over. The ploy of letting Sobers take his singles so that the lesser accomplished batsman gets on strike didn’t work. Sobers was dropped by Cowdrey, then best slip catcher in the world, on 93.
Sobers later allowed Holford to go for his shots. He wrote In King Cricket: “When I felt sure we were out of trouble, I said to David, ‘Bat as you like now. Make your strokes.’
He grinned. It was like the smile on the face of a tiger, when somebody opens his cage. And then he set about the ball like a tiger. The strokes he had bottled up for so long were just busting out of him now, sending him streaking into the nineties. Then at last he sent a ball from [Barry] Knight into the Warner Stand and completed his first century in Test cricket.
The crowd didn’t just rise to him. The Caribbean section of it overwhelmed him. Led by a gentleman in a tall hat and carrying a flag, he was backed up by a very pretty girl in slacks.”
Holford (105) and Sobers (163) returned to the Lord’s pavilion unconquered after a 274-run partnership for the sixth wicket.
The match at Lord’s was drawn, but West Indies cricket found a new star then. Sobers knew that there were people within the team who felt that Holford was favoured by him because they were related. He also felt that had they not been cousins, Holford would have captained the West Indies. Apart from being a good student of the game, he had a degree in agriculture and anorher one in computer studies, revealed Sobers.
Holford found fulfilment in promoting young talent. As revealed by cricket writer Rob Steen in his book, Desmond Haynes-Lion of Barbados, it was Holford who sounded out then skipper Lloyd of the qualities of Haynes who he led at Barbados. Lloyd duly watched Haynes crack a hundred in the Barbados v Pakistan game in February 1977 and by March 1978, Haynes made his Test debut against the touring Australians. It is learnt that Holford fast-tracked the Test selection of Shivnarine Chanderpaul too in 1993-94.
David Anthony Jerome Holford mustn’t be forgotten in West Indies and world cricket.
mid-day’s group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance. He tweets @ClaytonMurzello
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