David Holford passes at 82

Former Barbados and West Indies cricketer David Holford passed away on Monday night at age 82.

Reports indicate the retired agronomist was ailing for some time.

A former Barbados captain, he led this country’s cricket team to five titles in the Shell Shield Competition in the 1970s.

Holford had an outstanding career as an allrounder after leaving Harrison College and as a member of Spartan Club. He became the first cricketer to achieve the double of 1 000 runs and 100 wickets in the Shell Shield.

As a West Indies player, he appeared in 24 Test matches between 1966 and 1977, scoring 768 runs and taking 51 wickets. His lone century was at Lords in 1966, an unbeaten 105 in a match-saving effort with cousin Garry Sobers (now National Hero Sir Garfield Sobers).

He also played in the 1978 Kerry Packer series.

After retiring from active cricket, Holford served with distinction in the boardroom, first at Spartan where he was both captain and president.

He was a first vice-president of the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) as well as a manager and selector. He was also chairman of the West Indies selection committee and team manager during the 1990s.

In paying tribute, BCA president Conde Riley said: “As an administrator, David was a no-nonsense person. He always spoke about what Barbados’ cricket meant to Barbados and he paid a lot of attention to the preparation of our national teams.

“As chairman of the West Indies selection panel, he was responsible for picking Shivnarine Chanderpaul at a very young age and the rest is history.” (BCA/SAT)