Ambrose and the Indian connection
The news that Curtley Ambrose will retire after the tour of England will no doubt be welcomed by batsmen the world over
Partab Ramchand
31-May-2000
The news that Curtley Ambrose will retire after the tour of England
will no doubt be welcomed by batsmen the world over. Even though he
was no longer the menace of old, the gangling 36-year-old West Indian
paceman still commanded a lot of respect from batsmen, young and old.
Indian batsmen too will no doubt be relieved that they will no longer
have to face the fearsome fast bowler whose yorkers and bouncers
terrorized them.
Astonishingly though, for a bowler with his awesome record and
reputation, Ambrose's deeds against India are pretty modest. In nine
Test matches in two contests in the Caribbean - 1989 and 1997 -
Ambrose took only 15 wickets at an average of 38.33 with only one five
wicket haul - five for 87 at Port of Spain three years ago. Compare
this with his overall record of 388 wickets in 93 Tests and his
impressive tally against England - 147 wickets at 18.80 apiece - and
one finds it hard to understand why Ambrose's record against India was
not better. It must not be forgotten that the traditional weakness of
Indian batsmen has always been pace bowling and leading West Indian
pacemen through the years - Hall, Gilchrist, Griffith, Roberts,
Holding, Garner, Marshall and Walsh - have always enjoyed a very good
record against India.
On closer look however it can be seen why Ambrose's tally of wickets
against India was not higher. In 1989 he was very much the junior
member of the pace quartet, having made his debut only a year before.
He was in the shadow of Marshall, Bishop and Walsh. The wickets were
spread and Ambrose ended up with the minimum share. Moreover, in the
rain marred drawn first Test, on which there was play only on the
first two days, Ambrose bowled only three overs. Ambrose took only
five wickets in the series.
Eight years later however Ambrose was very much the kingpin of the
pace attack. But this time there were as many as four others - Bishop,
Walsh, Rose and Dillon - who had their share of the Indian scalps.
Also two of the games were badly affected by rain restricting
Ambrose's opportunities. But could a dynamic fast bowler like him
remain totally in the background? Besides his bag of five wicket haul
in the second Test, he played his part in shaping the only decisive
result of the series. India needed only 120 to win the third Test but
Bishop (4), Ambrose (3) and Rose (3) were in devastating form as the
Indians were bundled out for 81. He finished third in the aggregate
with 10 wickets and averages.
It is a pity that Ambrose's opportunites in India were limited. At the
peak of his powers, he suffered a shoulder injury which ruled him out
of the 1994-95 tour of the country. As it was, his only experience of
playing in India was the MRF World Series in 1989-90 in which again
his deeds were comparatively modest.