Cricket’s one of the first neutral umpires John Holder is against the concept

One of cricket's first Neutral umpires sees no logic in restricting any official from overseeing a match involving his own country

Cricket's one of the first neutral umpires John Holder is against the concept

One of cricket's first Neutral umpiresu00a0seesu00a0no logic in restricting any official from overseeing a match involving his own country

John Holder, who stood with John Hampshire in the 1989-90 India vs Pakistan series which was made special by the presence of neutral umpires, does not like the word 'neutral'.

"I don't understand this neutral thing. No umpire favours his country," 66-year-old Holder told MiD DAY during the second India versus England Test at Trent Bridge, Nottingham.

John Holder at Trent Bridge. Pic/Clayton Murzello

Holder no longer does duty in international cricket, but is busy with umpiring activities in Hampshire. He was born in a place called Superlative in Barbados.

So apt, because many who played with him officiating at the other end say he was a super umpire. When Sanjay Manjrekar bumped into him at Trent Bridge recently, the former India batsman called him, "legend."

"I don't see why an umpire cannot do duty in a match involving his country. They will never be biased. Why can't Australian Simon Taufel umpire in an Ashes match and why can't Aleem Dar stand in a match involving Pakistan," said Holder.

Asked about whether the Decision Review System puts added pressure on today's umpires, Holder didn't think so.

"No. The umpire will have to cope with that. He has to be good at his job. That is the bottom line. In my last Test (England vs Australia at Lord's in 2001), they had 28 cameras all along the ground. I am not against technology coming in as long as it is used well," he said. He officiated in 11 Tests and 17 one-day internationals.

Holder remembered the 1989-90 India versus Pakistan series with fondness.

"We were very well looked after.u00a0 All credit to Imran Khan, the Pakistan captain for giving us the opportunity to come. Javed Miandad was fantastic too. At the end of the series, Javed took John and me to his friend's leather factory and asked us to pick up whatever stuff we needed... for free. We were treated as VIPs"
On the field, it was a fiercely competed series. "He (pointing towards Manjrekar) was India's best batsman in that series ufffd the best! Sachin was very young, playing in his first series. I remember how fast Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis bowled ufffd very fast and Waqar clean bowled Sachin in his first innings. I told Sachin later that he must hang in there against the quick guys. And he got a half century in the next Test at Sialkot. I am not surprised that he has become an all-time great. All four Tests were drawn, but Pakistan could have won the series had they held on to their catches."

Holder played for Hampshire from 1968 and 1972 before taking up umpiring.

According to Cricinfo, in 1987, he and Don Oslear came up with the idea of a bowl-out. The Tilcon Trophy final was washed out and the tournament organisers requested them to think of a way to decide the winner apart from tossing a coin. The bowl out became part of English cricket then.