Absolute Cracker
Shane Lee | February 04, 2024
As the years wear on, some stories become folklore. The original version of the tale is enhanced and embellished into a legendary yarn. Sometimes, the story itself takes on its own life and becomes bigger than Ben Hur!
Wayne ‘Cracker’ Holdsworth stormed onto the domestic cricket scene in 1989, taking six wickets on debut for NSW in a performance even Ben Hur would have been proud of!
Wayne’s nickname ‘Cracker’ according to his mother is derived from hitting numerous batsmen on the head with his fast bowling feats. Smashing helmets and intimidating batsmen with raw pace and aggression his superpower in the game of cricket. His team mates having a different version of the chosen nickname, suggesting it's a result of a chemical imbalance making him more amorous than a dog with two dicks!
Whatever the reason, the boy could bowl fast!
Genuine fast bowlers are a rarity. It is only when you face someone over 150 km/h you have a true understanding of their ability that results in you questioning your mortality. The difference between 140km/h and 150km/h is not only 10km/h. It is a matter of life and death - or at least it feels like that standing 22 yards away.
Cracker in terms of genuine fast bowlers is genetically ideal. The fastest bowlers of all time are between 5’10 and 6’2, have strong legs, core stability and a Kim Kardashian rear end. To create raw pace this is the perfect fast bowling prototype. Think Malcolm Marshall, Brett Lee, Jeff Thompson and Shoaib Akhtar. All with similar physical attributes and all terrifying batsman alike.
Wayne Holdsworth gets a wicket for NSW
Besides Crackers ability to intimidate, he was an exceptional team man. Always offering up humour and making his team mates laugh within the change rooms. I remember a Sheffield Shield game at the SCG in the mid ’90s against South Australia. Post-match the Fijian Cricket team were invited into the dressing room to share a beer with the NSW cricket team. As a token of their appreciation, the Fijian players sang a beautiful indigenous song, harmonising with passion and perfect pitch. Our then CEO Bob Radford asked Cracker to respond on behalf of our team.
"Bob I can’t sing. I can’t dance...I can probably do a little puppetry of the penis!” “No thank you, Wayne. I’ll take it from here”
Brilliant!
The 1992/93 season returned Cracker 53 wickets @ 25.93 for NSW. This included seven wickets in the Shield Final against Queensland. His reward was being selected for the 1993 Ashes Tour to England. A remarkable achievement to be included alongside the likes of McDermott, Reiffel and big Merv Hughes. Due to the success of the Australian team on that tour, Cracker was only presented with limited opportunities in the county games. None the less, Cracker took a hat trick against Derbyshire. Go the Bankstown boy!
In life, we are presented with opportunities in no particular order. Understanding when those opportunities present themselves is a skill within itself. Then taking said opportunity sorts the men from the mice. Cracker “stood up” more than most in his career and should be proud of his achievements.
Well done Cracker for always rising to the occasion!
