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Curtly Ambrose remembers his teammates\u2019 icy stares. On the fourth afternoon of England\u2019s Test in Trinidad and Tobago in 1994, Ambrose was clean bowled playing a wild swipe.<\/p>\n
\u201cI say: \u2018Boy, I messed up \u2013 I have to pull something magical out of the bag\u2019,\u201d Ambrose recalls. \u201cI was really psyched up.\u201d<\/p>\n
He is 60 years old now, smiling and an affable talker \u2013 unlike in his playing career, when, as he said: \u2018Curtly talk to no man\u2019. And yet, with his lean but muscular frame and 203cm height, it remains immediately obvious why Ambrose produced some of the most lethal spells in the history of Test cricket.<\/p>\n
At Queen\u2019s Park Oval nearly 30 years ago, England began their chase of 194 runs to win; 15 overs of play remained on day four. For Ambrose, his personal frustration, combined with the knowledge that he would have only one spell that evening and a match in the balance was the prelude to a spell of awesome destruction.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you want to drive, buy a car,\u201d was Ambrose\u2019s beloved mantra. But at Trinidad, on a pitch now offering some low bounce, Ambrose shifted his length fractionally fuller. His very first ball seamed back to hit Michael Atherton\u2019s front pad in line with off stump. Ambrose\u2019s arms now twirled around in expectation. When Steve Bucknor raised his finger, Ambrose whirled his arms, and trademark white wristbands, in jubilation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you get a wicket, all of a sudden, you can bowl a yard or two quicker, because it really energises you,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I was really pumped up. And it just fell in place perfectly.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Richie Richardson holds Curtly Ambrose back from Steve Waugh in 1995.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>AP<\/cite><\/p>\n It made for an exhilarating cocktail: a bowler of towering height finding speeds of 145km\/h while exploiting some uneven bounce, cheered on by the Queen\u2019s Park crowd at its most raucous. For all the ignominy of being bowled out for 46 \u2013 still England\u2019s lowest Test total since 1877 \u2013 the score was the result of Ambrose\u2019s extraordinary bowling far more than English ineptitude.<\/p>\n When Mark Ramprakash was run out later in the opening over, England\u2019s trepidation was palpable. \u201cThat opened the floodgates,\u201d Ambrose recalls. \u201cEngland panicked a little bit.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I\u2019m in a certain type of zone, I\u2019ve always felt invincible. That\u2019s how I feel at that moment. I could do no wrong. And I don\u2019t think any batter on the planet can conquer me when I\u2019m in that kind of mood.\u201d<\/p>\n A bemused Alec Stewart as Curtly Ambrose appeals for his wicket.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n In barely an hour, Ambrose made a wreckage of the stumps of Robin Smith, Alec Stewart and Graham Thorpe. He walked off with six wickets in 7.5 overs; England were 8\/40 and would be bowled out for 46 the following morning.<\/p>\n A year earlier, Ambrose had produced an even more destructive spell: 7\/1 in 32 balls at Perth. Once again, the catalyst was frustration: this time, Ambrose\u2019s belief that he had wasted the new ball on the first morning at the WACA Ground, where the series was poised at 1-1 in the deciding Test.<\/p>\n \u201cMy first spell was a joke really,\u201d he reflects. \u201cI was bowling a little bit too short. I was bowling my regular length and on that surface the batters were leaving them.\u201d<\/p>\n At lunch, with Australia 2\/59, Ambrose didn\u2019t eat anything. \u201cI just sat there and said to myself: \u2018You messed up.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSeven wickets for one run in a spell \u2013 that\u2019s unheard of. That thing happened once in a lifetime, if ever, and against Australia, man!\u201d<\/p>\n As West Indies returned to the field, captain Richie Richardson asked Ambrose how he was feeling. \u201cI said ready to go,\u201d he recalls.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I made the adjustment, bowling a little bit fuller \u2013 not half-volley length, but a length where the batters looked like they could drive.\u201d<\/p>\n The difference, Ambrose believes, was less than a metre: enough to force batsmen camping on the back foot to grope forwards instead. \u201cA lot got caught by the keeper and slips looking to drive because I adjusted my length.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what fast bowling is all about \u2013 the surface you\u2019re playing on and make adjustments accordingly. And I did that and it worked perfectly.<\/p>\n \u201cSeven wickets for one run in a spell \u2013 that\u2019s unheard of.<\/p>\n \u201cThat thing happened once in a lifetime, if ever, and against Australia, man!\u201d<\/p>\n These two magnificent spells encapsulated how being riled, either by personal frustration or the opposition, could lead Ambrose to produce his best.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m at my most dangerous when I\u2019m upset or my back\u2019s against the wall,\u201d he said. \u201cSomething will just trigger me off. And then I get upset. And then I also felt like I could bowl maybe a couple of yards quicker.<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe a batsman will just walk around and look a bit too cocky for my liking. I\u2019ll say: you know what, I\u2019m gonna take care of you. It could be anything that would just trigger me.\u201cPerhaps no batsman felt this Ambrose tendency more than Steve Waugh.<\/p>\n The two shared battles of ferocious intensity throughout the 1990s, as Australia claimed West Indies\u2019 crown at the top of the Test game. In Trinidad in 1995, teammate Kenny Benjamin told Ambrose at lunch that Waugh had sworn at him.<\/p>\n Now Ambrose abandoned his normal maxim \u2013 \u201cI figured that the 5\u00bdoz (ball) will do enough for me. I don\u2019t say anything.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we came back from the break I bowled to him again. And somebody told me: \u2018Ask him if he said it.\u2019 And I said to him: \u2018Did you say so and so to me?\u2019 He didn\u2019t say yes, he didn\u2019t say no. He just simply said \u2018I can say whatever I want\u2019. That to me was a yes.\u201d<\/p>\n This was Test cricket at its most primal. Ambrose\u2019s fury led him to confront Waugh, needing to be pulled away by Richardson.<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to hit him physically because I demanded more respect from him,\u201d he said. Characteristically, Ambrose channelled his anger into taking nine wickets for 65 runs in West Indies\u2019 victory. \u201cWe\u2019ve never talked about it.\u201d<\/p>\n Ambrose did not strive to be a Test player. As a boy, his great love was basketball.<\/p>\n It was said John F Kennedy became president because his eldest brother could not fulfil the family dream. Ambrose, too, fulfilled the hopes that were originally invested in someone else. His cricket loving mother, who used to listen to Test matches on her transistor radio in Swetes, their village in Antigua, dreamed of her oldest son becoming a Test cricketer.<\/p>\n \u201cMy older brother used to play club cricket,\u201d Ambrose recalls. \u201cWhen he migrated to the US to join my father I was naturally next in line.\u201d<\/p>\n Late in his teens, Ambrose had a growth spurt so rapid that some schoolmates didn\u2019t recognise him when they saw him bowl on TV. Aged 20, Ambrose started playing club cricket for Swetes. Within four years, after only six first-class games, he was playing for West Indies.<\/p>\n And so Ambrose did not need the 10,000 hours of training that are said to be necessary to achieve greatness \u2013 in any case, a largely debunked theory.<\/p>\n Even Glenn McGrath couldn\u2019t match Ambrose\u2019s economy rate.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cIt was natural for me,\u201d he reflects. \u201cAccording to Desmond Haynes, I\u2019m a freak of nature.\u201d<\/p>\n Ambrose initially relied upon the classic fast bowler\u2019s combination: following a bouncer with a yorker. In Test cricket, he swiftly learned, this was not enough.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve developed that short-of-a-length delivery where batters aren\u2019t sure to come forward or go back \u2013 an \u2018in between\u2019 length. The guys couldn\u2019t leave on length. They had to look to play. I was never a swing bowler. I relied on hitting the pitch and getting the ball to seam away or nip back or go straight on.\u201d<\/p>\n Some great fast bowlers accept being driven for boundaries as an inevitable cost of doing business. For Ambrose every run scored against him was more like a personal affront. No one who has taken more than his 405 Test wickets, not even Glenn McGrath, has been so frugal.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a very proud man. Everything I do, I want to be the best. I hate giving away runs. I have to work hard to take wickets so I\u2019m not gonna make it easy for you as a batter.\u201d<\/p>\n As a generation of Test batsmen could attest, Ambrose never did.<\/p>\n\u2018When I\u2019m in the zone, I feel invincible\u2019<\/h3>\n
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\u2018Something will trigger me\u2026 and then I get upset\u2019<\/h3>\n
\u2018I\u2019m a freak of nature\u2019<\/h3>\n
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