Belated 80th Birthday Greetings
The Best captain the West Indies never had?
He was an excellent team manager and along
with coach Rohan Kanhai lead the WI well through some
difficult periods in the early 90s.
Many forget that tour of India 94/95. Richie , Haynes
and Ambrose were missing. I believe that some players
got sick on that tour as well. All credit to Captain Walsh
and the management team and Jimmy Padams for drawing that series.
After India WI had a fantastic series against New Zealand.
I was extremely surprised that Holford and Kanhai
were replaced for the 1995 Australia series and often wonder
if the outcome would have been different if they had remained for a few more years.
Holford might have been a better man manager of the likes
of BC Lara.
I'll give that accolade to Malcom Marshall or Michael Holding.
In reply to Benjie
Lara? He couldn’t man manage Keith, the Benjamins or Ritchie... ask Hooper - they use to rag he up like Hooper’s alleged first wife did him... 
In reply to Barry
Ok Reds
In reply to Casper
David Holford is a very intelligent man, so it would not surprise me that some would think he might have been an excellent captain.
There are a few points about David Holford's career that stand out.
He was a very tentative batsman at the beginning of his innings.As a matter of fact he was extremely nervous.The joke I heard was that the WI team padded up in twos but if Holford was the second person they padded up in threes.
The inspiration of his cousin Garry could not be understated.Holford was involved in 4 century partnerships in test cricket and 3 of them were with Cousin Garry.The 4th occurred when he come to the wicket with the score on 476 for 7 and subsequently had a 122 run partnership with Hendriks
David made 3 first class centuries and 2 of them were with Cousin Garry. The first in that famous test at Lords in 1966 and the third against India for Barbados in 1971.He also made a century against Lancashire on the 1966 tour.
He was an inspired pick by Skipper Clive Lloyd for the 5th test match against Pakistan at Sabina Park.Lloyd figured that Holford would get extra bounce at Sabina and persuaded the other selectors to pick Holford.He ended up with 5 wickets in the match for 109 runs including the wickets of Asia Iqbal and Wasim Raja in both innings in addition to scoring a valuable 37 in WI second innings.Holford had not appeared in that series and in the tour match for Barbados had 1 wicket for 137 runs.TALK ABOUT INSPIRED PICK!!!!!
In reply to Dukes
Holford was the most successful regional captain at the time...followed by Joey Carew
Talk about nepotism- only Ganga was superior
In reply to FuzzyWuzzy
Didn't Carew win 3 straight titles for T&T?
In reply to FuzzyWuzzy
My bad
Shell Shield
1965-66 Barbados
1966-67 Barbados
1967-68 No competition
1968-69 Jamaica
1969-70 Trinidad
1970-71 Trinidad
1971-72 Barbados
1972-73 Guyana
1973-74 Barbados
1974-75 Guyana
1975-76 Trinidad/Barbados
1976-77 Barbados
1977-78 Barbados
1978-79 Barbados
1979-80 Barbados
1980-81 Combined Islands
1981-82 Barbados
1982-83 Guyana
1983-84 Barbados
1984-85 Trinidad & Tobago
1985-86 Barbados
1986-87 Guyana
In reply to Dukes
Check Holford career before he went on to St. Augustine, in 63 he was one of the better batsmen in the WI, the many years away from playing playing may have hinder his development.
In reply to Barry
Lack of playing competitive cricket while in Titeland hindered Holford cricket, the weak cricket that was played in contributed to his avg performance.
In reply to tc1
You mean in 1968 to 1970 when they won the shell shield? 
In reply to Barry
I am speaking about the years he spent at St Augustine, about 58-62, he has a BSc in Agricultural Engineeing , and MSc prior to playing for WI.
In reply to tc1
In reply to tc1
58-62? So he learnt to play in Trinidad then..
In reply to Barry
PLEASE NOTE HOLFORD PLAYED FOR TRINIDAD
Barbados v Trinidad and Tobago
Other First-Class matches in West Indies 1962/63
Venue Kensington Oval, Bridgetown on 31st January, 1st, 2nd February 1963 (4-day match)
Balls per over 6
Toss Toss not known
Result Barbados won by an innings and 185 runs
Umpires [unknown], B Bourne
Close of play day 1 Barbados (1) 13/1 (Smith 4*, Nurse 8*)
Close of play day 2 Barbados (1) 400/6 (Weekes 23*)
Trinidad and Tobago first innings Runs Balls Mins 4s 6s
AA Corneal lbw b Edwards 16
BA Davis lbw b White 72 180 11 -
KM Furlonge b Griffith 0
CA Davis b Griffith 4
DAJ Holford c Bynoe b White 14
+DL Murray lbw b White 12
AW Aleong lbw b Griffith 11
*AG Ganteaume not out 4
PR Roberts c Griffith b Brancker 11
J Ali b Griffith 0
S Caesar lbw b Griffith 0 1 1 - -
Extras 4
Total (all out, 74.4 overs) 148
Fall of wickets:
1-38 (Corneal), 2-43 (Furlonge), 3-64 (CA Davis), 4-100 (Holford), 5-115 (BA Davis), 6-132 (Murray), 7-132 (Aleong), 8-148 (Roberts), 9-148 (Ali), 10-148 (Caesar, 74.4 ov)
Barbados bowling Overs Mdns Runs Wkts Wides No-Balls
Griffith 19.4 6 50 5 - -
Edwards 13 4 36 1 - -
Bynoe 1 0 1 0 - -
Brancker 16 6 24 1 - -
White 22 8 29 3 - -
Smith 3 1 4 0 - -
Barbados first innings Runs Balls Mins 4s 6s
CW Smith c Ganteaume b Ali 140 260 11 1
MR Bynoe c BA Davis b Caesar 0
SM Nurse c Corneal b Ali 210 273 31 -
AS King c Caesar b Roberts 5
*ED Weekes c Holford b Caesar 41
RC Brancker b Roberts 2
AW White b Roberts 12
+DW Allan lbw b Caesar 29
CC Griffith b Caesar 9
RM Edwards not out 2
PD Lashley absent hurt
Extras 13
Total (all out, 120.1 overs) 463
Fall of wickets:
1-4 (Bynoe), 2-322 (Smith), 3-335 (King), 4-368 (Nurse), 5-378 (Brancker), 6-400 (White), 7-439 (Weekes), 8-456 (Allan), 9-463 (Griffith, 120.1 ov)
Trinidad and Tobago bowling Overs Mdns Runs Wkts Wides No-Balls
Caesar 17.1 1 77 4 - -
Roberts 42 6 143 3 - -
Holford 17 0 82 0 - -
Ali 44 8 148 2 - -
Trinidad and Tobago second innings Runs Balls Mins 4s 6s
AA Corneal c Smith b Griffith 30 43
BA Davis c and b Edwards 22
KM Furlonge c Allan b White 18
CA Davis st Allan b White 1
DAJ Holford c and b Smith 8
AW Aleong c and b Brancker 16
+DL Murray b White 15
*AG Ganteaume c Bynoe b Brancker 11
PR Roberts b Brancker 0
J Ali not out 2
S Caesar b White 1
Extras 6
Total (all out, 55.1 overs) 130
Fall of wickets:
1-40 (Corneal), 2-60 (BA Davis), 3-72 (Furlonge), 4-73 (CA Davis), 5-84 (Holford), 6-107 (Murray), 7-120 (Aleong), 8-120 (Roberts), 9-127 (Ganteaume), 10-130 (Caesar, 55.1 ov)
Barbados bowling Overs Mdns Runs Wkts Wides No-Balls
Griffith 5 0 30 1 - -
Edwards 11 1 35 1 - -
White 19.1 7 26 4 - -
Brancker 16 7 25 3 - -
Smith 4 1 8 1 - -
Notes
--> The match was scheduled for four days but completed in three.
--> SM Nurse scored 2 fives in the Barbados first innings
--> AG Ganteaume made his last appearance in first-class matches
--> CW Smith (1) 100 in 166 minutes
--> CW Smith (1) equalled his previous highest score of 140 in first-class matches
--> CW Smith (1) passed 2000 runs in first-class matches when he reached 98
--> SM Nurse (1) passed 1500 runs in first-class matches when he reached 199
--> CC Griffith achieved his best innings bowling analysis in first-class matches when he dismissed S Caesar in the Trinidad and Tobago first innings (previous best was 4-24)
--> CC Griffith achieved his first five wickets in an innings in first-class matches in the Trinidad and Tobago first innings
In reply to tc1
In reply to camos
Yep you are right 
In reply to Barry/ Camos
My dates are off, he went to StAugustine about 1960, his first degree is in Agricultural Engineering.
In reply to tc1where he did the first degree?
In reply to camos
It seems Trinidad 1960-1963
In reply to camos
In Trinidad, from St Augustine, were you there too with Headley
In reply to camos
What about the College of Tropical Agriculture somewhere in Titland.
In reply to tc1
In reply to granite
In reply to Casper
Nice
In reply to tc1
You are mistaken- talk done... 
In reply to Barry
No problem!
In reply to Barry
Holford has a BSc from the UWI at St Augustine, A MSc in Engineering , all before playing for the WI.
In reply to camos
You source is incorrect, Wikipedia confirmed what I posted he has a BSc in Agricultural Engineering and. MSc in computers, he attended St Augustine in 1960 -1963, then did his MSc in Canada. Smart guy.
In reply to tc1
In reply to Casper
Careful with them kinda headline ...At first read I thought the man has passed especially with the Covid beast around.
A good guy, Holford he led Barbados to a couple Titles and was along with Carew and Lloyd ,talked about as successor
to Sobers as Captain after 1972..
In reply to tc1
In reply to camosu
I am telling you that he graduated from the UWI in 63 with agricultural engineering degree, then completed his MSc in computer science from a Canadian University.
I knew this because he told our high school class about persuing an engineering degree in Agricultural science.
In reply to tc1
your memory is off, lets just settle at that.
In reply to camos
My career patch was to pursue Agricultural Sciene..Gained a Full Clemenson Scholarship to then JSA in '61 to be followed
by St.Augustine in patterning a relative,A Prendergast ,did and then onto McGill.
But as I also was accepted at Mico, my parents sent me there and to my displeasure and happiness..those were the days,
but I still do gardening as my hobby although not this season because of Bad boy Covid-19.
Can't recall if there was a degree at UWEE at the time,but I would not have cared..Agriculture and sports were my loves.Still are.
In reply to tc1
You know more than Garry? 
In reply to hubert I went to both JSA and McGill, would '61 be the first batch at Twickenham Park?
In reply to hubert
Surprisingly, back then, the institution had a world class Agricultural Science programme... 
