Category profile
- Dominance
- 88
- Peak
- 94
- Longevity
- 78
- Honours
- 88
- Statistics
- 90
Career timeline · Centuries per year
| Season | Centuries per year | Share of career |
|---|---|---|
| 1975 | 10 | |
| 1976 | 28 | |
| 1977 | 22 | |
| 1978 | 24 | |
| 1979 | 20 | |
| 1980 | 18 | |
| 1981 | 22 | |
| 1982 | 24 | |
| 1983 | 20 | |
| 1984 | 18 | |
| 1985 | 16 | |
| 1986 | 14 | |
| 1987 | 12 |
Data sources
- ICC
- ESPNcricinfo
- Cricket Archive
Figures come from public records and are normalised per sport. See the methodology for category weights. Method
Why Michael Holding ranks #38 in Cricket
Michael Holding ranks 38th among Cricket athletes on GOAT Rank and 348th of 1063 across every sport in the index. The published GOAT Score of 87.5 is the weighted result of five verified category scores: Dominance 88, Peak 94, Longevity 78, Honours 88, Statistics 90. Those categories are normalised against the full Cricket reference universe of 294 records, not a shortlist, so the position reflects the whole sport rather than a handful of famous names.
The record covers 1972–1989 with 13 documented competitive seasons. The strongest single season in that series is 1976, which sets the Peak component at 94. Peak is the defining strength of the profile at 94 out of 100, and it carries 20% of the final score. The underlying career record includes test wickets 249, tests played 60, best innings figures 8, world cup titles 1.
Immediately ahead sits Adam Gilchrist on 86.5, a gap of -1.0 points. Directly behind is Steve Smith on 85.6. The position moves whenever the verified record moves: new titles, new seasons or a corrected source all feed straight back into the same formula, and every change is dated on this profile.
Michael Holding GOAT Score explained
- Dominance88/100 · weight 25%
- Measures how far Holding stood above the field while competing. Scored 88/100 against the full Cricket cohort.
- Peak94/100 · weight 20%
- Rates the best sustained stretch of the career, centred on 1976. Scored 94/100.
- Longevity78/100 · weight 20%
- Rewards staying at that level over time: 17 years of competition and 13 recorded seasons. Scored 78/100.
- Honours88/100 · weight 20%
- Counts documented titles, majors and awards in the verified record. Scored 88/100.
- Statistics90/100 · weight 15%
- Normalises the raw career numbers against everyone in the sport reporting the same metric. Scored 90/100.
Top Holding comparisons
Michael Holding — frequently asked
- Is Michael Holding the GOAT?
- Not on the current data. Michael Holding ranks 38th in Cricket with a GOAT Score of 87.5, behind Sachin Tendulkar on 94.4.
- What is Michael Holding's GOAT Score?
- 87.5 out of 100. It is the weighted sum of Dominance 88 (25%), Peak 94 (20%), Longevity 78 (20%), Honours 88 (20%), Statistics 90 (15%), computed from the verified career record.
- Where does Michael Holding rank all time?
- 348th of 1063 eligible athletes in the cross-sport index, and 38th within Cricket.
- Michael Holding vs Adam Gilchrist: who ranks higher?
- Michael Holding, on 87.5 against Adam Gilchrist's 86.5 — a margin of 1.0 points.