You still need the skill, and that doesn't come from steriods

Drugs don't work

Michael Holding

October 18, 2006

Brett Lee is the only top international fast bowler who manages to keep himself fit and away from injury for long periods of time, says Holding © AFP

But the strange thing is that, in my time, I have never heard any cricketers who've used drugs say: "Yes, this is helping me" for any reason. I don't think necessarily that when these guys are taking steroids, or Nandrolone, that they are trying to become new Atlases. They are just trying to strengthen their bodies. Some athletes, for example, have been tested positive and they've said 'but all I've done is taken food supplements'.

Of course I've heard of people taking things like marijuana and smoking stuff, but I don't think they count as performance-enhancing. But who knows? I've not done it, so I don't know if it would have made me a better player! You heard stories and talked about other players, but those guys never said it helped them, it just made them feel better. It's a personal thing about an individual's attitude to the game.

Personally, I believe there is too much pressure on modern-day players and especially on the fast bowlers - only Brett Lee manages to stay fit for any length of time, while Shoaib has missed as many Tests as he has played. In my playing days, I never heard of any fast bowler ever taking steroids. But these days they have to constantly worry about what's happening tomorrow, and next week, and next month and the next tour. There's too much work.

In my time I remember going to the gym to lift weights, to get stronger and to run a lot; you need that strong body to bowl fast, to bowl for long periods and also to recover. But that's just strengthening; the most important factor is skill, and that's not something that you'll get from using steroids.

A 1970s battery - Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Colin Croft and Joel Garner © Getty Images

All people ever talk about nowadays is "bowling the ball in the right areas". You don't hear anything about speed, and frightening the batsmen out of the way because they cannot afford to do it with the amount of cricket being played now. How many genuine fast bowlers are there and how many are genuinely able to bowl fast and for long periods of time? Every now and then you find they get injured.

The amount of cricket being played increases the risk of injury, and so perhaps the temptation to use drugs increases as well. But the ICC need to be more proactive. They probably don't want to tread on people's toes by introducing their own testing on top of that conducted by their member countries, but in fact there are only five nations who actually conduct regular tests. There are a lot of other Test-playing countries, not to mention those countries that have been given one-day international status. The ICC have to be responsible for that area of the game.

What I'm looking at is a situation similar to that which happens in athletics. Countries do their own testing - England have found positive tests, USA have too - but the ICC, for every tournament they are in charge of, whether it's Under-19, Under-15, ICC Champions Trophy or the World Cup, need to do their own testing at those tournaments, whether the countries involved have done so or not.

Michael Holding, a much-feared member of the all-conquering West Indian pace attack in the mid-70s and early 80s, has joined Cricinfo's panel of columnists.

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