WEST Indies cricket legend Michael Holding has picked his four greatest fast bowlers. Holding played with and against some of the best players in history in an international career that spanned 12 years and saw him make 162 appearances for West Indies and take 391 wickets.  

Following his retirement, Holding has continued to keep tabs on the sport as a successful and affable commentator, working primarily for Sky Sports.

Asked to identify the greatest seamers in the history of the game, Holding named fellow West Indian heroes Malcolm Marshall and Andy Roberts, Australia legend Dennis Lillee and current South Africa star Dale Steyn.  

He told the Sky Sports Cricket podcast: ‘Australia’s Dennis Lillee and my old West Indies team-mates Malcolm Marshall and Andy Roberts. ‘Lillee had everything – pace, control aggression. He was extremely quick when he started but had to totally remodel his action after a back injury and find different ways of getting batsmen out after losing a lot of pace.

‘When you see someone can adjust like that you have to rate them highly as a lot of bowlers are nowhere near as effective when they lose pace.

‘Malcolm started with good pace but as time went on he learnt so much about fast bowling. He could assess opposition batsmen so quickly, so easily. ‘In those days you didn’t have lots of tapes or computers, it was all in his head. He understood how to deal with batsmen.

‘Andy was someone I learnt so much from. He hardly ever talked, used to walk around the field with a surly face and people thought he looked aggressive and must be some miserable guy. But that was not Andy.

‘He was my room-mate for most of my career and we used to talk cricket nearly every night. ‘A lot of the time, we’d order food, stay in our room and talk cricket. You would never believe how much this guy knows.’ Holding added: ‘I have experience of those three guys but from only watching, you can’t leave Dale Steyn out of the picture.

‘He has been one of the great fast bowlers in an era. You’d pay to watch him.’ take’ England hero Stuart Broad also hailed Steyn, 36, and said he is the ‘best bowler of his generation’. ‘The bowler of my generation is Steyn, without a doubt,’ Broad said. ‘I really enjoy watching him bowl. ‘The action, the pace, the way he can swing it, the skill. If you wanted to be a bowler, you’d want that sort of ability.’ (METRO Sports)