John Holder
Encyclopedia
John Wakefield Holder is an English former professional cricket
er and first-class and Test
umpire
.
As a player for Hampshire County Cricket Club
(1968–1972) Holder was a brisk right arm medium pace bowler. In the 1970 season Holder took 55 wickets at 23.27 runs. His best bowling figures were 6 for 49 and 7 for 79 against Gloucestershire County Cricket Club
in 1972. In 1972 Holder also took a hat-trick
against Kent County Cricket Club
. His career average as a bowler saw him take 139 first class wickets at 24.56. Holder stood as umpire in eleven Test matches and nineteen One Day Internationals.
Holder became a first class umpire in 1983 and was promoted to officiate his first test-match in 1988. Holder was appointed by the International Cricket Council
as one of five worldwide regional umpires' performance managers and is responsible for monitoring and improving the performances of umpires in Europe, the Caribbean, America and Canada.
He co-authored the book You Are The Umpire with the illustrator Paul Trevillion
. The book was based on a comic strip that was included in the sports section of the British newspaper The Observer
and bares similarities with You Are The Ref
as both highlight unusual or difficult decisions that have to be made by sporting officials.
Holder is credited, along with Don Oslear, with the idea of a 'bowl-out' to decide a drawn match after the Tilcon Trophy final had been washed out by rain. The organisers had ordered them to think of another way of settling the match rather than the traditional and sometimes unpopular means of the toss of a coin. This idea was subsequently adopted into all England and Wales Cricket Board
competitions.
In 2000 John was consultant on the film "The Laws of Cricket, 2000 Code" which was shot in Barbados. The film featured an interview with John and Sir Garfield Sobers, and was directed by award-winning British film director Marcus Dillistone
.
Holder retired at the end of the 2009 season after 27 years as a first-class umpire.
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er and first-class and Test
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
umpire
Umpire (cricket)
In cricket, an umpire is a person who has the authority to make judgements on the cricket field, according to the Laws of Cricket...
.
As a player for Hampshire County Cricket Club
Hampshire County Cricket Club
Hampshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Hampshire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1863 as a successor to the Hampshire county cricket teams and has played at the Antelope Ground from then until 1885, before moving to the County Ground where it...
(1968–1972) Holder was a brisk right arm medium pace bowler. In the 1970 season Holder took 55 wickets at 23.27 runs. His best bowling figures were 6 for 49 and 7 for 79 against Gloucestershire County Cricket Club
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Gloucestershire. Its limited overs team is called the Gloucestershire Gladiators....
in 1972. In 1972 Holder also took a hat-trick
Hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick in sport is the achievement of a positive feat three times during a game, or other achievements based on threes. The term was first used in 1858 in cricket to describe HH Stephenson's feat of taking three wickets in three balls. A collection was held for Stephenson, and he...
against Kent County Cricket Club
Kent County Cricket Club
Kent County Cricket Club is one of the 18 first class county county cricket clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the county of Kent...
. His career average as a bowler saw him take 139 first class wickets at 24.56. Holder stood as umpire in eleven Test matches and nineteen One Day Internationals.
Holder became a first class umpire in 1983 and was promoted to officiate his first test-match in 1988. Holder was appointed by the International Cricket Council
International Cricket Council
The International Cricket Council is the international governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from England, Australia and South Africa, renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, and took up its current name in 1989.The...
as one of five worldwide regional umpires' performance managers and is responsible for monitoring and improving the performances of umpires in Europe, the Caribbean, America and Canada.
He co-authored the book You Are The Umpire with the illustrator Paul Trevillion
Paul Trevillion
Paul Trevillion is a highly acclaimed British comic/sports artist, whose career spans fifty years.Born in Tottenham , Trevillion, while still at school, produced artwork for publications like Eagle , TV21 and Roy of the Rovers...
. The book was based on a comic strip that was included in the sports section of the British newspaper The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
and bares similarities with You Are The Ref
You Are The Ref
You Are The Ref is a British comic strip featuring a series of awkward football refereeing challenges, which has run in various publications since 1957...
as both highlight unusual or difficult decisions that have to be made by sporting officials.
Holder is credited, along with Don Oslear, with the idea of a 'bowl-out' to decide a drawn match after the Tilcon Trophy final had been washed out by rain. The organisers had ordered them to think of another way of settling the match rather than the traditional and sometimes unpopular means of the toss of a coin. This idea was subsequently adopted into all England and Wales Cricket Board
England and Wales Cricket Board
The England and Wales Cricket Board is the governing body of cricket in England and Wales. It was created on 1 January 1997 combining the roles of the Test and County Cricket Board, the National Cricket Association and the Cricket Council...
competitions.
In 2000 John was consultant on the film "The Laws of Cricket, 2000 Code" which was shot in Barbados. The film featured an interview with John and Sir Garfield Sobers, and was directed by award-winning British film director Marcus Dillistone
Marcus Dillistone
Marcus Dillistone is an award-winning and Royal Premiered British film director. A close friend of Sir John Mills, he directed the film of Sir John's life Sir John Mills' Moving Memories. Dillistone and Sir John first collaborated on Dillistone's film "The Troop", which was first screened at BAFTA...
.
Holder retired at the end of the 2009 season after 27 years as a first-class umpire.