The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #110551   Message #2847957
Posted By: MGM·Lion
23-Feb-10 - 03:38 PM
Thread Name: BS: Footballers' English
Subject: RE: BS: Footballers' English
The oft cited quote:"The bowler's Holding, the batsman's Willey        "
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".[3][4] According to Christopher Martin-Jenkins,[5] the cricinfo biography,[6] and the biography of Brian by Johnston's son Barry,[7] Johnston never actually made the remark. His son says It was too good a pun to resist...but Brian never actually said that he had spoken the words on air. . However, this is contradicted by an account [8] offered by Henry Blofeld, who claims to have been present at the time. ===

Above from Wiki entry on Brian Johnston. The question of whether it was actually said or was an 'urban myth' as urged above seems to me to remain open.