Michael Holding not happy with hectic international schedules – Cricket News Update
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Michael-Anthony-Holding-c75756, the former West Indies cricketer, is not happy with the current itinerary of international cricket and believes that genuine fast bowlers are rapidly vanishing from the scene because of the additional workload.
The world of cricket witnessed a number of bowlers in the previous decades who could bowl at high speeds consistently. Especially in the 1970s and 1980s, there was a barrage of speedsters at the ultimate stage of the game. The list includes the likes of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Thompson-c93900.
Even in the late 1980s and 1990s, many high-quality pacers emerged, with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Courtney-Andrew-Walsh-c51620 carrying on with the tradition.
As the game has become more commercialised, with increasing number of matches per season, there have been lesser bowlers who could cross 150 KM/HR. Some speedsters like http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Brett-Lee-c48419 and Shane Bond crumbled due to the hectic schedules and did not play as much international cricket as they should have.
Holding, who was known as the ‘whispering death’ during his playing days, admitted that the modern-day cricketers have better training but he feels that it is still hard for the fast bowlers to cope with the extra workload.
“I know how difficult it was to maintain fitness and to bowl fast for an extended period of time. Although everyone is always talking about all the training that they are doing and they're monitored so closely, you will get injuries,” he expressed.
The legendary cricketer, who grabbed almost 400 international scalps in the 60 Tests and 102 One Day Internationals (ODIs) he played for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760, said that the busy schedules do not hamper the progress of medium pacers but it is extremely difficult to regularly bowl at great speed in the current scenario.
“It's just about monitoring them, about making sure that the workload is managed and see how long they can actually last,” the former great added. “I'm not talking about somebody who just ran 30 metres and bowled a ball. I'm talking about somebody who bowled really fast.”
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