Vanburn Alonzo Holder (born 10 October 1945) is a Barbadian former first-class cricketer who played in 40 Test matches and 12 One Day Internationals for the West Indies cricket team between 1969 and 1979. A fast-medium bowler, he bowled alongside the likes of Charlie Griffith and Wes Hall. Holder, who also played for English county cricket side Worcestershire, was appointed an honorary vice president of the club in 2021.[1][2][3] He was a member of the squad which won the 1975 Cricket World Cup.

Vanburn Holder
Personal information
Full name
Vanburn Alonzo Holder
Born (1945-10-10) 10 October 1945 (age 79)
Deans Village, Saint Michael, Barbados
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm fast-medium
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 131)12 June 1969 v England
Last Test2 February 1979 v India
ODI debut (cap 5)5 September 1973 v England
Last ODI12 April 1978 v Australia
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1966–1978Barbados
1968–1980Worcestershire
1985/86Orange Free State
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA
Matches 40 12 313 196
Runs scored 682 64 3,593 587
Batting average 14.20 12.80 12.97 7.93
100s/50s 0/0 0/0 1/4 0/0
Top score 42 30 122 35*
Balls bowled 9,095 681 55,593 9,342
Wickets 109 19 950 277
Bowling average 33.27 23.89 24.52 18.94
5 wickets in innings 3 1 38 3
10 wickets in match 0 0 3 0
Best bowling 6/28 5/50 7/40 6/33
Catches/stumpings 16/– 6/– 99/– 46/–
Medal record
Men's Cricket
Representing  West Indies
ICC Cricket World Cup
Winner 1975 England
Source: CricketArchive, 17 October 2010

Playing career

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He debuted in the tour of England in 1969 and returned again in 1973 as part of an improving side which ended a 6½-year streak of not having won a Test series.

In 1974 he was part of Worcestershire's Championship winning side and earlier in the year he scored his only first-class century, 122 for Barbados.

He took 6 for 39 in 1974–75 against India to help his side win the series. Eventually however he lost his place in the side as younger and faster bowlers were emerging.

Holder played more tests when leading players were playing World Series Cricket in 1977–78 and took 6 for 28 against Australia in Trinidad.

In 1981 he played county cricket for Shropshire in nine matches, scoring 181 runs and taking 45 wickets. At the time he was also playing club cricket for West Bromwich Dartmouth. He also played in South Africa for the Orange Free State.[4]

After retiring he was appointed as a first-class umpire in England in 1992. Holder retired as an umpire in 2010 and as of November 2020 is the most recent non-white umpire appointed by the ECB.[5]

During 2021 Holder was appointed as an honorary vice president of Worcestershire County Cricket Club[2][3]

Personal life

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When his playing days came to an end Holder went on to settle in Worcestershire where he still lives to this day.[2]

References

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  1. ^ Mukherjee, Abhishek (10 October 2016). "Vanburn Holder: An excellent supporting act to the genuine quicks of his era". cricketcountry.com. Cricket Country.com.
  2. ^ a b c "COUNTY LEGEND VANBURN HOLDER'S PRIDE AT VICE-PRESIDENT NOMINATION". wccc.co.uk. Worcestershire. 3 March 2021.
  3. ^ a b "SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING – WEDNESDAY 24 MARCH 2021". wccc.co.uk. Worcestershire.
  4. ^ Percival, Tony (1999). Shropshire Cricketers 1844-1998. A.C.S. Publications, Nottingham. pp. 34, 56. ISBN 1-902171-17-9.Published under Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians.
  5. ^ Dobell, George (16 November 2020). "ECB faces calls for inquiry into lack of non-white umpires". ESPNcricinfo. ESPN. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
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