Batting for life

Alcindo Holder relaxing after his second innings on his return to the game © The Nation

Back in April, Alcindo Holder lay helpless on his hospital bed staring at the grey roof, grimacing in pain. Death beckoned the young cricketer.

Last Saturday, he sat erect on the benches outside the pavilion at the Briar Hall, Christ Church playing field, basking in the sunshine and staring at the heavens. He smiled with delight. Life beckons this amiable man.

"At one point I thought I wouldn't be here. ... I thought I might be gone, many people thought so. It was that bad," Holder told The Nation. "I have to thank God. I say a prayer everyday. God was with me then and He is with me now. I thought I would never play [cricket] again. But I'm here alive and I can play cricket. I'm not 100% back yet, about 75 to 80% but I have life and I have hope."

Today, the 25-year-old is full of life and ready to get back into the Barbados team after making a full recovery from stab wounds sustained in a domestic altercation. At that time, he was preparing to fulfill his contract with Westhoughton Cricket Club in the Bolton League in England.

Just weeks before, he had played in the Carib Beer final in Trinidad. He was away from the game since the incident but made a return two weeks ago for his beloved ICBL Empire against MTW in the semi-finals of the Division 2 play-offs. He cracked 84 in the first innings and 48 in the second as his team advanced to the final, which starts on Saturday.

"I recognised what is important. I have to care for what is important - people around me and the ones you care about. I changed the way I do things and I have made some decisions. Cricket is important, but it is not the most important thing," said the former West Indies Under-19 player, who has made nine first-class appearances for Barbados.

The former St George Secondary student said that after the incident he was "dead to the world" on the first day in the hospital. He admitted: "I didn't 'catch' myself 'til the second day. It was only then that I realised what was going on. I knew I had to fight [for life] from then on, and I will continue to fight. There were so many people who were there for me, who prayed for me and who supported me. I want to thank them all from my heart."

Since regaining the strength to take to the field he has been under the watchful eye of Jacqui King-Mowatt, the long-standing physio of the national team. As it relates to cricket, Holder said he would be pushing to regain his spot in the middle-order for the Carib Beer Series which opens on January 4 against the Windwards at Arnos Vale, St Vincent, and the Stanford 20/20 set to bowl off in Antigua on January 24.

"I will check with the BCA [Barbados Cricket Association] and let them know I'm available. I still believe I have a chance of playing for the West Indies, but I will take it step by step and move slowly ahead. I'm not rushing life."