cricket with balls

It’s not often that the Balls has something nice to say about umpires, but we can’t let the impending retirement of John Holder go unmarked.

For one thing, he’s the man who invented the bowl-out, the only downside to which is that it often takes place behind closed doors. Believe me, there’s no finer sight than a fast bowler running in off their full run and repeatedly failing to hit an unguarded set of stumps, whilst a batsman who only turns his arm over in charity games hits two out of two.

Another reason is that umpiring in England is, to borrow a phrase, hideously white. Holder’s retirement means that only his namesake Vanburn remains as evidence that there is no colour bar for English officials.

The main reason for mourning Holder’s departure is that, simply, he’s a very good umpire. Good enough to stand in 11 tests and 19 ODIs. Good enough to be featured in many of the televised domestic games. And good enough that, despite increases in television scrutiny, you very rarely hear him accused of making a mistake.

There may be sound reasons for having a retirement age of 65 for umpires, but losing an official so obviously capable as Holder is a sad and unwarranted consequence of it.