Curtly Ambrose

Curtly Elconn Lynwall Ambrose (born September 21, 1963) is a former West Indian cricketer. His skill was as a right-arm fast bowler, especially in partnership with Courtney Walsh. His huge 6'7" (2.01 m) frame was a fearsome sight for any batsman; even when his pace fell away due to age, he still bowled excellent line and length and, due to his height, could extract steepling bounce from any pitch — a threat to even the finest of batsmen. With Walsh, he formed one of the greatest opening bowling partnerships in history, as evidenced by the 421 wickets they shared in the 49 Test matches they played together.

Ambrose was a man of few words, refusing countless interview requests with the motto "Curtly talk to no man."

Playing career

International cricket

In Test cricket, he had 98 caps, bowled 1,001 maiden overs (roughly two in every seven) and took 405 wickets (making him only the fifth to exceed the 400 barrier) at an average of 20.99. This average is marginally bettered only by fellow West Indians Malcolm Marshall (20.94) and Joel Garner (20.97) among bowlers who have taken more than 200 wickets. In addition, Ambrose also boasts the best economy rate of any of the ten bowlers who have taken 400 or more Test wickets, at 2.30 per over. His best performance was eight for 45 against England at Barbados in 1990 (in 34 Tests against England he took 164 wickets, dismissing Mike Atherton seventeen times); he took five wickets or better on 22 occasions, including seven wickets for one run against Australia at the WACA, in Perth, in 1993. He also bowled an infamous fifteen-ball over at the same ground: it contained nine no-balls and took twelve minutes to bowl, making it possibly the longest over in Test cricket. He overstepped the crease by a considerable margin and it was regarded that he deliberately did so to come closer to the batsmen to intimidate them.

In 176 one-day internationals, Ambrose took 225 wickets. Despite certain pretensions as a left-handed batsman, and a single Test fifty to his credit (53 against Australia in 1991), he did not distinguish himself with the bat.

Legacy and life after cricket

He was placed at No. 3 in Shane Warne's list of the fifty greatest cricketers of his time, while Ian Botham in his book Botham's Century noted that, although "a cricketer who thrived on aggression and menace", Ambrose was "the most reluctant and detached of heroes", indeed "one of the quietest that I ever encountered". As a bowler, he was always "miserly accurate" but occasionally, when fired up, "as unforgiving and as devastating as a hurricane", and "virtually unplayable": But maybe of all these weapons, the most potent was his silence. Many fast bowlers have tried to put batsmen off their strokes by utilising various forms of verbal and physical intimidation. Curtly intimidated you with hush.

Notes

External links

Category:1963 births Category:Living people Category:West Indies One Day International cricketers Category:West Indies Test cricketers Category:West Indian cricketers Category:West Indian cricketers of 1970-71 to 1999-2000 Category:Leeward Islands cricketers Category:Northamptonshire cricketers Category:Wisden Cricketers of the Year Category:Cricketers at the 1992 Cricket World Cup Category:Cricketers at the 1996 Cricket World Cup Category:Cricketers at the 1999 Cricket World Cup Category:Cricketers at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Category:Wisden Leading Cricketers in the World