Holding quits TV job over Hooper's appointment
By Tony Cozier
Stabroek News
March 6, 2001
Michael Holding is so incensed over Carl Hooper's appointment as
West Indies captain he has withdrawn as a television commentator for
the forthcoming series against South Africa and won't attend any of
the matches.
"I am fed up with all the rubbish that is going on in West
Indies cricket and this is just the last straw," the great fast
bowler turned international commentator said by telephone from
Kingston.
"You've got to have principles in life and my argument is that
you cannot give your highest position in West Indies cricket to
someone like Carl Hooper who has shown such disregard for West Indies
cricket in the past and turned his back on it on numerous occasions,"
he added.
"I feel very strongly about it," he said. "I am not
interested in getting involved with West Indies cricket the way it is
going. I'm not going to the grounds and I'm not appearing in
television."
To the observation that he was giving up a source of for a year.
Holding acknowledged that Adams did not deserve a place in team given
his form in his last two series against England and Australia.
"But if you were removing Jimmy Adams, you cannot replace him
with a Carl Hooper," he contended. "I would have supported
anyone who has shown commitment to West Indies cricket, not somebody
who has dissed West Indies cricket on so many occasions and has shown
interest only in himself."
Hooper returned to first-class cricket in the Caribbean this season
after a break of two years to shatter the tournament batting record,
take 24 wickets and lead Guyana to the Busta International Shield
final.
But Holding said this was not enough to qualify for captaincy, only
to be selected in the team.
"I always believe that every man deserves a second chance in
life and sometimes even a third chance," he said. "But you
do not elevate someone to the highest position in West Indies cricket
just because they make runs and take wickets. They have to prove their
commitment to West Indies cricket."
Holding called Hooper's appointment "an expedient move by the
selectors".
"Because Hooper came back and made runs, it was easy to give him
the captaincy," Holding noted. "But it is not an easy job to
rebuild our cricket. The process is long-term, not short-term."
He said he had been asked what his position would be if Hooper leads
the West Indies to victory in the imminent series against South Africa
and goes to
Zimbabwe and July and wins the series there.
"I am hoping that they do but the end doesn't always justify the
means," was his response. "You've got to have some sort of
principles and some morality."
Holding recalled that he was also concerned when Brian Lara was made
captain for the same reasons.
He said he was "saddened by the general malaise" within the
West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), referring to what he termed "the
privileged treatment" accorded some individuals.
"Can you tell me how Brian Lara is included in the 13 for the
first Test and hasn't had to play a match to prove his fitness while
Shivnarine Chanderpaul and
Merv Dillon had to," he asked.
Holding, 47, who took 249 wickets in 60 Tests between 1976 and 1987,
has worked with TWI television in every series in the West Indies
since 1980. He has also worked for Sky TV in Britain and Channel Nine
in Australia.