30 Facts About Bob Holland

Robert George Holland was a New South Wales and Australian cricketer.

Bob Holland, who spent the majority of his cricketing life in Newcastle, was a late bloomer, and his Test debut aged 38 made him the oldest Australian debutant in more than half a century.

Bob Holland quickly formed an integral part of the bowling attack that made the state the dominant domestic team in the Sheffield Shield in the 1980s.

Bob Holland finished his first-class career with a season with Wellington in New Zealand's domestic league.

When Bob Holland was 15 he met Colin McCool, the player coach at Belmont Club.

Bob Holland took four wickets against Queensland, five against Victoria seven against Tasmania, three against the touring English and five against South Australia.

Bob Holland was left out of the McDonald's Cup side but was kept in the NSW Shield team.

Bob Holland took six wickets in his first Shield game and four in his second, causing people to discuss him as a test prospect.

Bob Holland went back to New South Wales and continued the form which had gained him Test selection in the first place.

Bob Holland was selected for the 1985 Ashes tour to England, but only had sporadic success.

Bob Holland was not selected for the First Test, but was recalled for the Second Test at Lord's.

Bob Holland was used mostly as a defensive option, and took few wickets with only a further wicket coming for the cost of 355 runs in the next three Tests, after which he was dropped for the final Sixth Test.

Bob Holland was dropped for start of the series against India in favor of Ray Bright but was recalled for the Third Test at the SCG, where he played his final Test.

Bob Holland took 34 wickets at 39.76, but excluding the Tests at Sydney, Lord's and Adelaide respectively mentioned earlier, the other eight Tests yielded only nine wickets.

Bob Holland took 48 first-class wickets at 32.39 that summer.

Bob Holland was overlooked for the tour of New Zealand and India.

Bob Holland toured Zimbabwe and took 9 wickets at 26.77.

Bob Holland was not picked; the selectors preferred Greg Matthews, Peter Sleep and Peter Taylor.

Bob Holland played one more season of first-class cricket, in New Zealand.

Bob Holland's bowling was marked by use of flight, a disciplined length and a variety of leg breaks, topspinners, and a googly that was used relatively sparsely.

Bob Holland took 316 wickets at 31.16 in 95 first-class matches.

Bob Holland's batting was poor, averaging 9.67 at first-class level.

Bob Holland was a civil engineering surveyor, and was married to Carolyn, with three adult children named Craig, Rohan and Naomi.

One of his grandchildren, Thomas Bob Holland, was selected in 2014 as a high-school student to represent Australia in baseball.

Bob Holland devoted most of his time to his two lifelong passions.

Secondly, Bob Holland was a keen bowling coach who enjoyed passing on his secrets to the new cricketing generations at high schools and coaching clinics around Australia.

In September 2006, Bob Holland celebrated his 60th birthday with a celebrity cricket match with former teammates.

Bob Holland had asked a man and a woman to stop riding motorcycles on the cricket ground where he volunteered as a curator.

In March 2017, Bob Holland was diagnosed with an aggressive brain cancer and underwent surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

However, Bob Holland suddenly deteriorated and died on 17 September 2017, just two days after the event.