who said the bowler's holding the batsman's willey
Brian Johnston The oft-cited quote "The bowler's Holding, the batsman's Willey" supposedly occurred when Michael Holding of the West Indies was bowling to Peter Willey of England in a Test match at The Oval in 1976. Johnston claimed not to have noticed saying anything odd during the match, and that he was only alerted to his gaffe by a letter from "a lady" named "Miss Mainpiece".[12][13] According to Christopher Martin-Jenkins,[14] his Cricinfo biography,[15] and the biography by Johnston's son Barry,[16] Johnston never actually made the remark. Barry Johnston says "It was too good a pun to resist ... but Brian never actually said that he had spoken the words on air." Holding himself has expressed his doubt about the phrase ever being said, pointing out that no recording of it exists. Henry Blofeld and former TMS Producer Peter Baxter said that Johnston did not come up with the phrase and did not say it during commentary.[17]