As one of the fastest bowlers the world has seen, Michael Holding acquired the haunting nickname 'Whispering Death' claiming 249 Test wickets. It was a moniker earned because he advanced to the bowling crease with stealth-like malevolence. Despite not having not laced his bowling boots since 1989, it remains a fitting description. As a commentator and administrator, Holding has delivered his views on cricket in the same manner that he played the game: he speaks softly with a rich Jamaican rhythm and his calculator in either criticism or compliment. No Holding Back charts his effortless transition from one of the great players to one of the great television pundits.

Holding graphically describes his days as a player, looking back at how he tried deliberately to hurt batsman on the wastelands of Kingston, and at his first match for Jamaica when he almost collapsed from exhaustion - after only four overs! There is time, too, to divulge what it was like to tour with the formidable West Indies team and unmissable insights about sharing a dressing room with other legends of the game like Sir Clive Lloyd, Sir Viv Richards and Malcolm Marshall.

No Holding Back does not shirk the big issues, however, and serves as a compelling antidote to the often bland and shallow autobiographies of recent players. Holding tackles why West Indies have slipped following their halcyon days, candidly assesses the legendary Brian Lara, and laments the hypocrisy over the state of the game in the region. The controversy surrounding the recent Allen Stanford $20m dollars spectacle-turned-debacle, the ICC's handling of the abandoned England v Pakistan match, player power, illegal bowling actions and the threat of twenty 20 to the test game are all subjects which Holding confronts with characteristic knowledge and class.