“Float like a butterfly, Sting like a bee” Yeah, Tony Greig brought the best in the WI squad with his “we are going to make them grovel” comment. The 76 Oval test brought the best in both Viv Richards and Michael Holding who put up their career best performance there.
I watched that England team later in that Test series live at Sabina as a teenager. This famous over I listened to on the radio, I think it was in Barbados, the actual commentary built tension with each ball, it felt inevitable that the coolest and fastest bowler on the planet would bowl the great Yorkshireman. When he smashed the stumps with last ball of the over , the crowd, through my radio went ballistic and I had the widest smile on my teenage face. GREAT moment in cricket history.
I listened to it on the radio in England, and I have the same memory. Greatest defensive opener against the very best of those great fast bowlers, and it was a real working over, with the inevitable conclusion. Holding did the same thing to Botham straight after lunch. By repute, Botham said when he got back to the dressing room, "sorry lads, he's a bit too good for me." Holding was really something special.
Yes. Amazing though so few views for perhaps the most legendary over ever. Boycott was one the finest openers ever but all he could do was jerk involuntary at the ball coming at him like a bullet fired from a gun.
@@jahno7154 And to a man that could really defend. Getting Sir Geoffrey out like that was an amazing piece of bowling from a really GREAT bowler. Two of my all time favourite cricketers
That effortlessness and grace in his action.... 😍 An on song Jofra Archer is the closest modern thing we can get to a Michael Holding me thinks (in terms of pure athleticism and seemingly effortless pace).
Bearing in mind that Boycott was 40 at this time, it shows that he had guts. It’s nonsense that he was frightened of fast bowling; he averaged 45.94 against the West Indies and 47.50 against Australia, playing until 1982. Sure, when he refused to play because Denness was awarded the captaincy he missed Lillee and Thompson, but they had both had trouble with injuries in the year before their greatest year in 1975 so I doubt that even many of the Australians saw those great performances coming in the Australian summer of 74-75 and then the English summer later that year.
I remember watching Boycott when he was about 40 years old, and he didn't appear to have any problems with our Australian team in England at that time. Not over exciting to watch, but he'd get the job done eventually.
@@dennispicone6801 like you said, not over exciting. But some are match winners and some are match savers. Boycs played 108 times for England. They only lost 20 of those.
Apparently he would have been capable of running at the olympics (I forget what distance). He had a choice between running and cricket, chose cricket. Elite athlete, not surprising he was a good quick bowler.
I was there also, twenty years old at the time, share ecstasy, and what topped it off for me was when he returned later in the same innings and got Ian Botham out with the most unplayable bouncer, a choker, I went crazy all over again. 🤣🤣🤣
In my book, this is the greatest over ever bowled in Test history. Michael Holding was sheer poetry in motion and Geoff Boycott did not have a clue! Ah, those memories...
Heh, it's certainly up there. When you fend the first ball off your chest to slip, it's probably not going to be your day! The fastest, nastiest bowlers tend to be the loveliest blokes off the pitch, could listen to Mikey all day long.
@@jimb9063 mikey was not the nastiest of the west indies fast bowling artillery. that accolade went to colin croft and sylvester clarkre. mikey was the fastest but not the nastiest.
@@trinihammer Oh certainly accept that from what I've been told, just missed seeing Crofty play. Was thinking in terms of raw pace in itself being nasty to face, rather than their nature on the pitch necessarily, and also some non WI players like Lee and Wasim too.
@@davifdavid4347 dont forget sylvester clarke, he was a nasty piece of work both on and off the field. sometimes went out of his way to hurt batsmen. clive lloyd had to tell sylvester clarke to cool down on a few occasions. clive lloyd would tell the other fast bowlers to work the batsmen over but when it came to clarke it was the complete opposite lloyd had to tell clarke not to lose control and cool down.
Legend has it that test matches were filmed from satellites during the 70s and 80s. That's why the commentators had to inform the viewers where the ball went.
Easy & relaxed that's the most ideal run up by a fast bowler!! Even his physique lean&light!! Contrast this with forced run up of Shoib Aktar and the heavy physique he developed later that I think became his nemesis!!!
Widely regarded as one of the greatest overs in the history of test cricket history as both players were at their peak (boycott was 40!) The only other over that comes close was when Freddie Flintoff gave Ricky pointing a good going over at Edgbaston in 2005
I remember watching a video about 4 years ago or so,where Alan Border gave an interview with two other Aussies where he stated that "When in the mood,Holding bowled at 100 mph." In another interview with this same Charles Coalville,Imran Khan was asked who he considered to be quicker, Holding or Thomson,Khan replied,Holding! In another video,Rod Marsh was asked about the rivalry between Holding and Thomson ,and Marsh replied, "Holding is just as quick." Marsh was referring to a match in which he was struck by Holding,off his short run,3 times in that over. Some people refuse to accept that there were W I bowlers who were quicker than Jeff Thomson.
@@TheTigers00001 who is great and who is not great is all down to different opinions. IN MY OPINION BOYCOTT AND GAVASKAR ARE THE TWO GREATEST OPENING BATSMEN EVER.
@@trinihammer You totally misunderstood me. I was not saying they are not great. I was saying it wasn’t a fair competition here. Holding was in his prime and Boycott was well past his prime. That’s all.
Is this clip from England’s tour of West Indies in 1990 or from 1994 ? Remember Charles Colville when he came over to India in Jan ‘93 on England’s tour of India ( Charms Cup).
I'm guessing if not for Jeff Thompson, Holding would be remembered today as the fastest bowler of that era. Any Windies fans got an opinion of whether he was the quickest WI bowler to ever play? (I know Marshall was very quick too and a bunch of others, was Holding the quickest?)
Possibly - Jeff Dujon (who didn’t keep to Holding that much, and not in Holding’s prime) said that Patrick Patterson was the quickest WI quick he kept to. Boycott said Holding was the quickest he ever faced - and then some. Imran Khan said it was Andy Roberts. What was scary is that Holding always seemed to be bowling within himself. Magnificent athlete.
Those were different cricket days. Back home radio main source of information. It is just not Micheal Holding and jeff thompson, but all those bowlers were great. The speed, their run ups and all. Micheal Holding is the one who invented leg cutters. Those guys were simply superb. Very hard to find those kind of players any more. Thanks for the wonderful cricketing memories Mr.. Holding & co.
@@srinathcholleti7449 - not sure about inventing leg cutters. Sir Alec Bedser was the first quick bowler to really perfect the leg-cutter, although he had huge hands, so it wasn’t hard for him to bowl. Michael Holding, Glenn McGrath, Venkatesh Prasad and Terry Alderman could bowl it beautifully too
Michael Holding, Sylvester Clark and Patrick Patterson are the 3 fastest West Indian bowlers of all time.All 3 of these men would have crossed the 100mph barrier during their careers. Holding would have done it as early as April 1976,against India when Bishan Bedi surrendered a test match(refusing to bat ,not once but twice)rather than face the murderous speed of Holding which saw 6 Indian batsman hurt.Incidentally,it is the only time in the history of test cricket that a captain has twice declared an innings closed while fit to play.He also broke that barrier in Australia between 1979 and 1982,when he was at his peak as confirmed by the likes of Alan Border. Sylvester Clark bowled at 101mph in South Africa,in 1983 during the West Indies rebel tour. And Patrick Patterson reached that speed in 1986 at Sabina Park,as confirmed by Graham Gooch and Peter Willey,who both declared Patterson to be even faster than both Thomson and Holding. Like Boycott, Graham Gooch faced them all ,and knows what he's talking about when it comes to fast bowling.
There are so many idiots who denigrate Sir Geoffrey and suggest he tried to avoid facing the West Indies. Complete and utter rubbish. Throughout his entire England career, he was the prized wicket every bowler wanted.
For those who dont know,This is the "BEST OVER OF ALL TIME IN TEST CRICKET"
Saw Michael Holding at the Oval in 76. Moved like a ballet dancer but struck like a bullet. Best fast bowling I have ever witnessed.
“Float like a butterfly, Sting like a bee”
Yeah, Tony Greig brought the best in the WI squad with his “we are going to make them grovel” comment.
The 76 Oval test brought the best in both Viv Richards and Michael Holding who put up their career best performance there.
On a dead deck as well, where two players scored double hundreds. Amazing virtuoso bowling performance.
I watched that England team later in that Test series live at Sabina as a teenager. This famous over I listened to on the radio, I think it was in Barbados, the actual commentary built tension with each ball, it felt inevitable that the coolest and fastest bowler on the planet would bowl the great Yorkshireman. When he smashed the stumps with last ball of the over , the crowd, through my radio went ballistic and I had the widest smile on my teenage face. GREAT moment in cricket history.
I listened to it on the radio in England, and I have the same memory. Greatest defensive opener against the very best of those great fast bowlers, and it was a real working over, with the inevitable conclusion. Holding did the same thing to Botham straight after lunch. By repute, Botham said when he got back to the dressing room, "sorry lads, he's a bit too good for me." Holding was really something special.
Boycott is great when it comes to pure cricket, love listening to him
I can listen to Boycott and Holding all day.
Wow, so thankful this exists online!
Yes. Amazing though so few views for perhaps the most legendary over ever.
Boycott was one the finest openers ever but all he could do was jerk involuntary at the ball coming at him like a bullet fired from a gun.
Most beautiful bowling action.
Great cricketers BUT amazing gentlemen of the game. Great sense of humour and very intelligent. You represent with distinction in all aspects of life.
Used to be dubbed as the “ best over ever bowled in test cricket”
Well definitely the fastest over ever bowled.
@@jahno7154 And to a man that could really defend. Getting Sir Geoffrey out like that was an amazing piece of bowling from a really GREAT bowler. Two of my all time favourite cricketers
It was an honour to watch this
Holdings run up and delivery was smooth as silk.
Michael's accent is gold.It enriches the English language in a subtle way
its a jamaican accent
Two Legends and Greats. Hats off to a wonderful piece of cricket history.
That effortlessness and grace in his action.... 😍 An on song Jofra Archer is the closest modern thing we can get to a Michael Holding me thinks (in terms of pure athleticism and seemingly effortless pace).
Archer should have played for West Indies again we lost a great one to the enemy
@@elvisthelambert609 agree!
Holding quicker, with an awesome action. All-time great fast bowler. A couple of tiers above Archer.
Except an on song Jofra Archer rivals a unicorn for sightings. I don't understand why his career has been so blighted.
One Of The Best Over In World Cricket History Jef Boycott Best Batsman for England Last Fifty Years
Bearing in mind that Boycott was 40 at this time, it shows that he had guts. It’s nonsense that he was frightened of fast bowling; he averaged 45.94 against the West Indies and 47.50 against Australia, playing until 1982.
Sure, when he refused to play because Denness was awarded the captaincy he missed Lillee and Thompson, but they had both had trouble with injuries in the year before their greatest year in 1975 so I doubt that even many of the Australians saw those great performances coming in the Australian summer of 74-75 and then the English summer later that year.
I remember watching Boycott when he was about 40 years old, and he didn't appear to have any problems with our Australian team in England at that time. Not over exciting to watch, but he'd get the job done eventually.
@@dennispicone6801 like you said, not over exciting. But some are match winners and some are match savers.
Boycs played 108 times for England. They only lost 20 of those.
Boycott scored an unbeaten century in the second innings.
@@ArchieFatcackie What? In this game? It’s incredible that he could still do it against the quicks at that age, and on the hardest pitches.
@@oleggorky906
Yes England drew the game through him staying there unbeaten.
The bowler's Holding, the batsman's f*cked.
Michael holding one of the fast bowlers in the early 1980 &greatest blower
Michael had the smoothest run up to the crease. Sublime bowler - now Michael has the smoothest voice in the commentary box.
Apparently he would have been capable of running at the olympics (I forget what distance). He had a choice between running and cricket, chose cricket. Elite athlete, not surprising he was a good quick bowler.
Two great gentlemen.
I was there! We were all on our feet by the third ball. What an over!!
You lucky devil Susan!!
I was there also, twenty years old at the time, share ecstasy, and what topped it off for me was when he returned later in the same innings and got Ian Botham out with the most unplayable bouncer, a choker, I went crazy all over again. 🤣🤣🤣
Was Holding the Windies Bowler than was known as 'Whispering Death'?
Yes.
In my book, this is the greatest over ever bowled in Test history. Michael Holding was sheer poetry in motion and Geoff Boycott did not have a clue! Ah, those memories...
Heh, it's certainly up there. When you fend the first ball off your chest to slip, it's probably not going to be your day!
The fastest, nastiest bowlers tend to be the loveliest blokes off the pitch, could listen to Mikey all day long.
@@jimb9063 mikey was not the nastiest of the west indies fast bowling artillery. that accolade went to colin croft and sylvester clarkre. mikey was the fastest but not the nastiest.
@@trinihammer Oh certainly accept that from what I've been told, just missed seeing Crofty play.
Was thinking in terms of raw pace in itself being nasty to face, rather than their nature on the pitch necessarily, and also some non WI players like Lee and Wasim too.
Yep,you're right! Boycott regarded Colin Croft to be the nastiest of all the W I quicks. He has spoken about it many times.@@trinihammer
@@davifdavid4347 dont forget sylvester clarke, he was a nasty piece of work both on and off the field. sometimes went out of his way to hurt batsmen. clive lloyd had to tell sylvester clarke to cool down on a few occasions. clive lloyd would tell the other fast bowlers to work the batsmen over but when it came to clarke it was the complete opposite lloyd had to tell clarke not to lose control and cool down.
The last ball was a gem
Every ball was a gem. That one was a diamond
Yeah Geoff probably saw it about as well as we did watching the pixels in this video
@@maxxamillion792 Amazing these guys often faced that pace without a helmet. And weren't even getting paid big money to do it.
The mighty.., Michael Holding Brilliant bowling..,One of.., West Indies.., Greats..,
Great stuff!! Holding and Boycs!! Top men in cricket talk n walk!!
Legend has it that test matches were filmed from satellites during the 70s and 80s. That's why the commentators had to inform the viewers where the ball went.
I used to see live test cricket for a couple of hours or so via satellite transmission on black and white TV in the 70's.
Two greats
Facing the most lethal attack in history without a helmet.
Easy & relaxed that's the most ideal run up by a fast bowler!! Even his physique lean&light!! Contrast this with forced run up of Shoib Aktar and the heavy physique he developed later that I think became his nemesis!!!
Dry season in the Caribbean. Hot sun, dusty, and cricket. I miss it.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest overs in the history of test cricket history as both players were at their peak (boycott was 40!) The only other over that comes close was when Freddie Flintoff gave Ricky pointing a good going over at Edgbaston in 2005
Steve Harmisons first over at the Gabba 2006 was pretty good too. The ball was flying everywhere….
Boycott was certainly not at his peak, sir.
You've made the point. Boycott was 40 and still facing up to the most aggressive bowling attack in cricket history.
I remember watching a video about 4 years ago or so,where Alan Border gave an interview with two other Aussies where he stated that "When in the mood,Holding bowled at 100 mph." In another interview with this same Charles Coalville,Imran Khan was asked who he considered to be quicker, Holding or Thomson,Khan replied,Holding! In another video,Rod Marsh was asked about the rivalry between Holding and Thomson ,and Marsh replied, "Holding is just as quick." Marsh was referring to a match in which he was struck by Holding,off his short run,3 times in that over. Some people refuse to accept that there were W I bowlers who were quicker than Jeff Thomson.
The Sunday morning was equally quick. Very much a repeat of Saturday. There was some amazing fast bowling that whole day.
the best opening batsman facing the fastest bowler.
But Boycott was 40 in 1980.....Hardly in his prime.
@@TheTigers00001 who is great and who is not great is all down to different opinions. IN MY OPINION BOYCOTT AND GAVASKAR ARE THE TWO GREATEST OPENING BATSMEN EVER.
@@trinihammer You totally misunderstood me. I was not saying they are not great. I was saying it wasn’t a fair competition here. Holding was in his prime and Boycott was well past his prime. That’s all.
Is this clip from England’s tour of West Indies in 1990 or from 1994 ? Remember Charles Colville when he came over to India in Jan ‘93 on England’s tour of India ( Charms Cup).
What was the name of the south African who was playing for England you made the "making them grovel" remarks? That didn't exactly go to plan
Congratulations on bringing a completely unrelated issue here. Tony Greig was the name.
@@eddielasowsky7777 it’s not totally unrelated. It was an England captain speaking about the West Indies.
tony grieg
Wrong series. That was said prior to the 1976 series in England by the late Tony Greig.
South African playing for England? You'd have to narrow it down a bit, South Africans have made up half the 'English' team for the last 50 years
Geoffrey did get some runs in that series.
Holding's peak was from 79 to 83
For those who don't know,this was the fastest over ever bowled by any human being.
Beautiful ❤️
Boycott reads the game well.
When was this interview? 1990?
I'm guessing if not for Jeff Thompson, Holding would be remembered today as the fastest bowler of that era. Any Windies fans got an opinion of whether he was the quickest WI bowler to ever play? (I know Marshall was very quick too and a bunch of others, was Holding the quickest?)
Possibly - Jeff Dujon (who didn’t keep to Holding that much, and not in Holding’s prime) said that Patrick Patterson was the quickest WI quick he kept to. Boycott said Holding was the quickest he ever faced - and then some. Imran Khan said it was Andy Roberts. What was scary is that Holding always seemed to be bowling within himself. Magnificent athlete.
Those were different cricket days. Back home radio main source of information. It is just not Micheal Holding and jeff thompson, but all those bowlers were great. The speed, their run ups and all. Micheal Holding is the one who invented leg cutters. Those guys were simply superb. Very hard to find those kind of players any more. Thanks for the wonderful cricketing memories Mr.. Holding & co.
@@srinathcholleti7449 - not sure about inventing leg cutters. Sir Alec Bedser was the first quick bowler to really perfect the leg-cutter, although he had huge hands, so it wasn’t hard for him to bowl. Michael Holding, Glenn McGrath, Venkatesh Prasad and Terry Alderman could bowl it beautifully too
Michael Holding, Sylvester Clark and Patrick Patterson are the 3 fastest West Indian bowlers of all time.All 3 of these men would have crossed the 100mph barrier during their careers. Holding would have done it as early as April 1976,against India when Bishan Bedi surrendered a test match(refusing to bat ,not once but twice)rather than face the murderous speed of Holding which saw 6 Indian batsman hurt.Incidentally,it is the only time in the history of test cricket that a captain has twice declared an innings closed while fit to play.He also broke that barrier in Australia between 1979 and 1982,when he was at his peak as confirmed by the likes of Alan Border.
Sylvester Clark bowled at 101mph in South Africa,in 1983 during the West Indies rebel tour.
And Patrick Patterson reached that speed in 1986 at Sabina Park,as confirmed by Graham Gooch and Peter Willey,who both declared Patterson to be even faster than both Thomson and Holding.
Like Boycott, Graham Gooch faced them all ,and knows what he's talking about when it comes to fast bowling.
@@davifdavid4347 Cool comment man thanks.
Boycott was a great batsman but must have been relieved in getting bowled rather than to have his windpipe knocked out.
Love this
Michael Holding Man filled with Bowling 💪😂
Who's the interviewer. And when was this recorded?
Charles Colville
@@rogerjones8840 thank you
Not many people know this but that ball which got the wicket hit his leg stump not the off stump.
There are so many idiots who denigrate Sir Geoffrey and suggest he tried to avoid facing the West Indies. Complete and utter rubbish. Throughout his entire England career, he was the prized wicket every bowler wanted.
❤
I think thats the only wicket michael got it that inning. Colin Croft got 8 for 29.
No, Crofty got 8 for 29 vs Pakistan in 77
Stumps flying, keeper evades injury 😜😂😂
I think it is a great spell cricket world
Whispering Death
Holdings run up was like rolce roys
Geoffrey Boycott last ball 😂
1s
Lucky Guys, did not face Shoaib and Brett Lee, 150-----------161
But Shoaib and Brett Lee weren't part of a neverending fast, aggressive pace attack.
Geoff as silly as ever as taunting as ever typical colonial mindset
Upgrade your sense of humour
@@nightwatchman7482 I'm serious
@@pradeepm.s.6944 yea that's why you need to upgrade your sense of humour so you can learn how to take a joke
Geoffrey wasn't taunting anyone. It's quite obvious that he respects Holding a lot.
@@saleemkirmani5583 I'm not specifically telling only about the clip. It's overall