holden was born in chesterfield, derbyshire. he made his debut for derbyshire in the 1910 season in august in a match against essex. in that and the next match he had little opportunity to bowl and batted at the tail end. his third match that season was a wash-out. holden next played for derbyshire after the first world war in a single game in the 1920 season against somerset. he took three wickets in that match and again batted at the tail end. holden was a left-arm medium-fast bowler and took three wickets in his first-class career at an average of 37.00. he was a right-handed batsman and played 6 innings in 4 matches with a top score of 6 not out and an average of 3.25.