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Full name John Wakefield Holder
Born March 19, 1945, Superlative, St George, Barbados
Current age 63 years 128 days
Major teams Hampshire
Nickname Benson, Hod
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm fast-medium
Other Umpire
Height 6 ft 0 in
Education Combermere High School, Barbados; Rochdale College

Batting and fielding averages

Mat

Inns

Runs

Ave

100

First-class

374

10.68

List A

114

6.33

Bowling averages

Mat

Balls

Runs

Wkts

BBI

BBM

Ave

Econ

First-class

7098

3415

139

7/79

24.56

2.88

51.0

List A

1860

1213

3/18

26.36

3.91

40.4

Career statistics

First-class span

1968 - 1972

List A span

1969 - 1972

Umpiring statistics

Test debut

England v Sri Lanka at Lord's, Aug 25-30, 1988 scorecard

Last Test

England v Australia at Lord's, Jul 19-22, 2001 scorecard

Test matches

Test statistics

ODI debut

England v Sri Lanka at The Oval, Sep 4, 1988 scorecard

Last ODI

England v Pakistan at Leeds, Jun 17, 2001 scorecard

ODI matches

ODI statistics

John Holder was a brisk right-arm seamer who played for Hampshire between 1968 and 1972. His best season was in 1970 when he took 55 wickets at 23.27, but his most impressive performance came in 1972 when he took 6 for 49 and 7 for 79 against Gloucestershire and a month later took a hat-trick against Kent. Between 1974 and 1982 he was a professional in the Lancashire and Yorkshire Leagues, and in 1983 he joined the first-class umpires panel. He stood in his first Test in 1988, and in the next three years officiated in nine more, including four with John Hampshire in Pakistan for the series against India as one of the first neutral umpiring appointments. His final appearance came in 2001, after a ten-year absence. That summer he also umpired in the last of his 19 ODIs. His other claim to fame was that in 1987 he and Don Oslear came up with the idea of a bowl-out after the Tilcon Trophy final had been washed out after organisers requested them to think of a way of finding a winner other than a toss of the coin. The idea was subsequently introduced into all ECB competitions.
Martin Williamson

Apr 11, 2006

Portrait of John Holder © Getty Images

Feb 12, 2002

Umpire John Holder © European Cricket Council

Nov 21, 2001

Umpires Bucknor and John Holder at Lord's for the 2001 Ashes Test © Cricinfo Ltd

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