I’ve previously written an article about how Jim Higgs was a possible great lost match-winner of Australian cricket. Today I’d like to discuss someone who was definitely a lost match-winner: Bob “Dutchy” Holland.

For those unaware, Dutchy was a New South Wales leg spinner who made his Test debut for Australia in 1984-85 at the ripe young age of 38 years and 35 days.

He was the oldest player selected for Australia since “Dainty” Ironmonger (46 and 237 days) and Don Blackie (46 and 253 days) in 1928-29. Two of the selectors at the time (Greg Chappell and Rick McCosker) were younger than Holland.He was four years older than Jim Higgs, the last leg spinner picked to play for Australia. He was three years older than Kerry O’Keefe.

Holland played 11 Tests for Australia from 1984 to 1986, taking 11 wickets at an average of 39.76. He played a key role in three matches, all of which Australia won. And the thing is, from the tour of West Indies in 1983-84 until the fourth Test of the 1986-87 Ashes they were the only test matches Australia won.

Seriously, out of 32 Tests Australia lost 14, drew 14 (and was lucky to escape with a draw for at least four of those), tied one, and won three – Bob Holland getting five wickets in an innings in each of those three. It was a wonderful Cinderella story.

It could have been even better but Australia’s selectors were a little scared of Holland. For one thing, he blossomed late in life, not making his first class debut until 1978-79 (he was born in 1946). For another, he was a leg spinner in the ’80s, a time when it was all about pace and one-dayers.

He was also old (the grey hair rubbing it in), not a good batter, and he lived most of his life in Newcastle, which I think some people found weird. He didn’t really fit into the stereotype of what an Australian cricketer could be. So they kind of only picked Holland as a last resort.

I’ve thought a lot about Bob Holland throughout my life, probably more than is healthy, but I know the readers of this website will understand. And I’d like to discuss the 10 main ways Australia misused the weapon they had. It’ll help if you know a lot about ’80s cricket but I will try to make it relevant for today.

1. Not selecting him on the 1982 tour of New Zealand

Holland made his first class debut in 1978-79 but didn’t become a regular until the following summer. His efforts for New South Wales were very consistent: 25 first class wickets in ’79-’80, 30 in ’80-’81 and 27 in ’81-’82. If he’d been 10 years younger – or had a batting average 15 runs higher – these efforts would surely have been enough to get him on the 1982 tour of New Zealand in support of Bruce Yardley.

Leg spinners have a good track record across the Tasman – Kerry O’Keefe played there to great effect in ’76-’77 – and while there was no doubt Yardley was the No.1 spinner at the time, a match-winning leggie would have been a marvellous thing to have up the sleeve.

Instead the selectors went for Ray Bright, who had toured New Zealand three times before without much impact. In the second Test our bowlers were unable to get on top of New Zealand’s batters and we lost the game. We won the third Test to draw it 1-1 but if Holland had toured… who knows?

2. Not selecting him on the 1982 tour of Pakistan

Australia toured Pakistan later that year, taking three spinners: Yardley, Bright and Peter Sleep. Bright’s selection was more understandable here having played so well in 1980 but Sleep’s less so. Still, the selectors went for Sleep’s (relative) youth and (much) superior skill with the bat, and thus missed the chance to take Holland.

Australia lost this tour 3-0, a series dominated by a leg spinner, Abdul Qadir, taking 22 wickets. Australia’s batters and fielders were more to blame than Holland but a genuine wicket taking leg spin option surely couldn’t have hurt.

3. Not selecting him on the 1984 tour of the West Indies

Holland’s form dipped in 1982-83 (16 wickets at 52) but he rebounded in 1983-84 (24 at 29.9) leading for some, such as Bob Simpson, to recommend Holland be picked on the 1984 tour of the West Indies. Australia’s spin bowling stocks were uncertain over the 1983-84 summer: in Tests the selectors had tried Tom Hogan, Greg Matthews and Murray Bennett.

Simpson wrote Holland’s “style is ideally suited to West Indies conditions and he has the maturity to handle the difficult assignment. It might have been a gamble but one that was worthwhile for while [Tom] Hogan undoubtedly will turn in a tradesmanlike performance, I cannot see him disturbing the talents of the West Indies.”

Peter McFarline, probably Australia’s leading cricket writer at the time, said Holland shouldn’t be picked, saying “the selectors would do well to recall 1973, the last time they had a similar theory about the West Indies being weak against leg spin, resulted in the selection of John Watkins who had nothing to show for his efforts except a reputation that earned him a place in just about everybody’s ‘worst Australian team’.”

Now, I like McFarline’s writings but this plain inaccurate. Watkins’ sole Test was played at home against Pakistan. On the West Indies our he took 10 first class wickets at 33, which isn’t great but Australia took two other leg spinners as well: Kerry O’Keefe and Terry Jenner, who took 20 and 36 tour wickets respectively, with O’Keefe bowling Australia to victory in the third Test, and Jenner taking six wickets in the fifth.

Also Ian Chappell’s leg spinners had helped bowl Australia to victory in the third Supertest on the 1979 WSC tour, and Jim Higgs would have won Australia the fifth Test in 1977-78 if not for a riot.

Anyway, in the end they went for Matthews and Hogan, both of whom were decent cricketers, incidentally, but the selectors needed to be thinking of how matches might be won. I would’ve taken Hogan and Holland.

Australia’s bowlers didn’t take one second-innings wicket for the whole series. We lost 3-0 and without Allan Border it would’ve most likely been 5-0.

4. Not giving him a proper wicketkeeper

Bob Holland made his international debut in 1984-85, playing the second Test against the touring West Indies. He earned this off the back of seven wickets against that side for New South Wales.

The Australian wicketkeeper for that game, and for nine of Holland’s 11 Tests, was Wayne Phillips, a swashbuckling South Australian opener who was thrust into keeping initially because of an injury to Roger Woolley but then kept there because the selectors liked a keeper who could bat.

Which was all well and good, only Phillips had barely kept in first class cricket and had to learn a very tough trade at the top level. I loved Phillips as a batter, he was one of the few who would take the fight to the West Indies, and he played many match-winning innings. But he wasn’t a specialist keeper, which hurt the bowlers, particularly Holland.

When Phillips was injured, he was replaced for three Tests by Steve Rixon, an excellent keeper and long-time collaborator of Holland. When Rixon and Holland played their first together, 17 of Holland’s 173 first class wickets to date (11 per cent) were stumpings to Rixon. By way of contrast, only 7 per cent of Richie Benaud’s Test wickets were stumpings.

All bowlers need strong fielding/keeping support but especially spinners who get people from stumpings. Phillips’ really came a cropper over the ’85-’86 summer and by the time he was dropped he was done as a batter and keeper. It was a damn waste of his career. Holland definitely suffered, as well.

5. Not giving him a proper captain

Holland had to play all his Tests under the captaincy of Kim Hughes and Allan Border, neither known for their ability to handle spinners (although Border became good by the 1990s in part because of his experience with Holland).

One wonders how Holland might have fared under the leadership of Rod Marsh, who should have been captain from 1981 onwards. In fairness, Marsh mightn’t have been too crash hot either – you didn’t get too much experience captaining leg spin at the WACA back in the day (to give some idea Marsh took 66 stumpings from 257 first class games, while Rixon took 65 from 151 games) but he’d be better than Hughes and a pre-’89 Border.

6. Not playing him in the first Test of the 1985 Ashes

Holland had bowled Australia to a sensational victory in the fifth Test against the West Indies in 1984-85, earning him selection on the 1985 Ashes. A potential match-winner in a squad hit badly by defections to South Africa, Holland should’ve played in all six Tests… but he was overlooked for the first and the last.

Holland took 12 wickets in two early tour games, but had been hit around badly in a tour game against Leicestershire. To rub it in, English captain David Gower was playing in that game and scored a century, so got a good look at Holland.

Holland was overlooked for the first Test in favour of an all-pace attack and we lost by five wickets – England spinner John Emburey taking seven wickets.

Commentator Alan Macgilvray always thought Border blundered by playing Holland in that Leicestershire game. To be fair Border learned his lesson with Shane Warne on the 1993 tours of New Zealand and England, keeping his strike weapon away from Test batters in tour games when possible, preserving a bit of mystery. It worked a treat. Thus, Bob Holland got mistreated so that Shane Warne might prosper!

7. Not giving him better bowling support on the 1985 Ashes

Holland bowled Australia to victory in the second Test at Lords, taking 5-68 in England’s second innings. After that it was grim tidings for Holland, only taking one more wicket – finishing up with a series haul of six wickets at 77.5.

Commentators started sighing (again) over how leg spinners don’t do well in England and the like.

But the thing is, Holland did not have great support from the other bowlers on tour. Well, that’s not entirely true – Craig McDermott took 30 wickets and Geoff Lawson 22.

But the third seamer in five of the Tests was Simon O’Donnell, who was picked mostly for his batting – he took six wickets at 61. O’Donnell’s bowling was never good enough to play as a specialist in Tests – he needed to be played in tandem with Greg Matthews, or replaced by another specialist bowler like Dave Gilbert or Murray Bennett.

To add insult to injury Allan Border displayed a bewildering lack of enthusiasm to use part-timers such as himself and Kepler Wessels, even as England’s batters piled up massive totals. Oh, and for the record, for England Emburey took 19 wickets for the series and Edmonds 15.

The Test side Australia should have played – trying not to be too wise in hindsight here: (1) Hilditch (he hooked himself out of Test cricket but we weren’t to know that) (2) Wayne Phillips (3) Kepler Wessels (4) Allan Border (5) Greg Ritchie (6) Simon O’Donnell/David Boon (7) Greg Matthews/Murray Bennett (8) Ray Phillips (wk) (9) Geoff Lawson (10) Craig McDermott (11) Bob Holland.

That side might’ve gotten out England for less than 450 more than twice.

8. Dropping him in 1985-86

Holland played four Tests over the 1985-86 summer for Australia. He was kept on for the first Test disaster against New Zealand, did terribly (0-106), but a strong effort for New South Wales saw him picked in the second Test at the SCG, a thrilling game where Holland’s 10 wickets helped Australia win.

He followed this with three wickets at Adelaide – a game Australia lost. However, he was then dropped for the next two Tests against India in favour of Ray Bright (who took 1-80 and 0-76). I get the selectors liked the batting and captaincy experience of Bright, but he wasn’t a match winner in the way Holland was. Holland was worth the risk.

9. Not taking him on the 1986 tour of New Zealand

Holland was recalled for the thirst Test against India at the SCG, only getting 1-113. This meant he was overlooked for the 1986 tour of New Zealand in favour of Bright and Matthews, despite having taken 48 first class wickets that summer (more than anyone else) at 32 (Bright took 27 at 38, Matthews 20 at 32). This was a massive mistake – Australia often got in match-winning positions on this tour but the bowlers could never seal the deal.

To rub it in, Holland went on to play a summer of cricket in New Zealand for Wellington in 1987-88 and took took 31 first class wickets at 23.80 with a best of 7-69. Holland could have won this series for Australia.

10. Not taking him on the 1986 tour of India

Again, the selectors went with Bright and Matthews. Look, I get it, and this one turned out okay with both Bright and Matthews rising to the occasion in the first tied test. But it was silly to only two spinners on a tour where both were expected to play all three Tests. Just take a third spinner to India.

So… what lessons can be drawn from the story of Bob Holland?

1. If players win you matches, who cares how old they are? Not every player has to be a long-termer. And anyway spinners tend to bloom later in life.

2. Protect your strike bowlers. Give them proper wicketkeepers and allow them to rest by using part-timers (not necessarily all-rounders – batters who can bowl a bit is fine), give them proper strike bowlers in support.

3. Pick players who will win. Don’t worry so much about players being “the whole package”. Sure, it’d be great if they were all young, had all the tools and resembled a player you liked. But do they take wickets? Do they make runs? Not might – do they do it? They will win you more games.

4. It’s not unmanly to take three spinners on tours.

It is unreasonable to expect another Shane Warne to come along. Or Keith Miller. Or Don Bradman.

But it is reasonable to expect another Bob Holland and when he does, and we need them, we should look after them.

Bob Holland passed away in 2017. But he is certainly not forgotten.