There was a job to do!

I have always been very forthright in the commentary box prepared to call a spade a spade and some of the West Indian fans do not like me being critical of their team In their opinion as a former West Indies cricketer I should be saying only complimentary things about the West Indies team To that I can only say l am not a West Indies commentator I am a commentator from the West IndiesOnly commentators from the West Indies can really understand what it is likeSometimes the players can react Since Irsquove begun broadcasting some have taken such offence that they have refused to speak to me One West Indies player even brought me up in a team meeting saying lsquoWhy is he so critical He used to be one of usrsquo Can you imagine that A team meeting of all placesThe majority of players understand why I say what I say I still have a lot of friends in the West Indies team because they know that no malice is intended They know that if I make a mistake I will apologise and they know that I will praise them when it is deserved Some have listened to me on the radio or television and come to me for advice Daren Powell the West Indies fast bowler and Phil Simmons and lan Bishop spring to mind immediately and there have been others I have criticised Daren heavily on air At ChesterleStreet in 2007 the West Indies were trying to save a game with himself and Chanderpaul at the crease and he got out to a ridiculous shotWest Indies lost lsquoHe shouldrsquove been dropped for that shotrsquo I said But Daren knew he had made an error and he didnrsquot take it personally I coached him when he was starting out as a fast bowler for Jamaica and he still comes to me to talk about his gamePhilrsquos 1994 batting problemsPhil Simmons was opening for West Indies on the 1994 oneday tour of India and had heard that I was tutting away at how he was playing across the line and as a result getting out cheaply We were in Cuttack and I was doing commentary high up in this tower that overlooked the ground when I got a message that Simmons was waiting to see me at the bottom of the steps If that sounds threatening to you I can assure you that I felt the same I didnrsquot know whether he had come along with his cricket bat and was going to hit me across the line or he just wanted a chat But I went down anyway lsquoWhat can you suggest for my batting problemsrsquo he askedBishop had been having problems with his back in his later days with the West Indies team and I didnrsquot think he was bowling as well as he could so I said it In Barbados I think my comment was something like lsquoHersquos not bowling as well as before hersquos not the same lan Bishoprsquo He came to me for helpEven my own family have struggled to comprehend my desire to tell it like it is I have been close friends with Ramnaresh Sarwan for many years and he owns a house only 15 minutes down the road from my home in Miami He once got out hooking in a Test match in Trinidad which contributed no end to the West Indies losing the Test and I told the viewers it a lsquobrainlessrsquo shot Well I got it in the neck for that Not from Ramnaresh but LaurieAnn my wife lsquoHow can you say thatrsquo she shouted at me lsquoHersquos been like a sonrsquo She has always looked upon him as family I think that proves that I am not in this business to protect friendsOne man who has not been described as my friend is Brian Lara Some will argue that I have gone out of my way to attack the man rather than defend him It is another example of people believing that I am making personal comments instead of calling the action as I see it People think I donrsquot like Lara because I have often berated him for not putting the team first It is not true that I donrsquot like him as a person If I didnrsquot like Lara I just wouldnrsquot talk to him I sat down with him in my hotel room for 45 minutes or more in Guyana some years ago after he approached me for a chat about what was going on in his lifeLetting my heart rule my headI do not sit behind the mic purely to please people to only tell them what they want to hear My job is to tell them how I see it on the field and be objective I have been guilty a few times of letting my heart rule my headI blew my top in Melbourne on the West Indiesrsquo 200001 tour Shane Warne was bowling to a young batsman called Ricardo Powell He was pretty new to the team It was a oneday series after the Tests had been completed and throughout the tour there had been some very poor umpiring decisionsmdasha large number of them in favour of Australia I had a little running battle if you could call it that with Bill Lawry over these umpiring decisions I was keeping a score sheet because I was so disgusted by what I saw as a bias towards the home team Warne managed to sneak one past Powellrsquos bat to hit him on the pad He must have been hit on the front foot about nine feet down the pitch from the stumps but Warne as was his wont led a huge appeal and the umpire fell for it Bill turned to me and joked lsquoHow many is that now Mikeyrsquo I was furious lsquoI donrsquot care now Irsquove lost countrsquo I said lsquoIrsquom wondering whether he would have been given out if hersquod been wearing green and yellowrsquo1988The year Michael Holding started doing commentaryExcerpted from No Holding Back published by Orion Books distributed by HachetteCheck out all the latest news and updates on IPL 2021