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With Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad set to play in their last Ashes series, two West Indies legends reveal the secrets to success for a new-ball duo.
It's the last call for Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose who are gearing up to bowl it out in their last Ashes series. The duo whose bowling game is an impeccable fusion of intimidation and aggression appear remarkably relaxed about how they are remembered.
Their attitude towards the future of the sport and it's successive contenders, is a true harbinger of real sportsman ship. In their recent interview with a Cricket Betting company they said:
"As
part
of
the
fast
bowling
fraternity,
and
very
passionate
about
it,
I
love
to
see
fast
bowlers
doing
well,"
says
Ambrose,
when
asked
how
he
feels
about
his
modern-day
predecessors.
"For
me,
it's
a
pleasure
to
see
bowlers
doing
better
than
former
greats."
The duo have nothing but great things to say about their contemporaries in the sport.
"What Jimmy [Anderson] and Stuey [Broad] have done for the game, for example, is tremendous," says Walsh. "Hopefully another partnership will come along that will be even better."
The duo are sincere when they talk about how they were never invested in their own egos or legacies.
"If I take 10 wickets in a Test match and we lose it's a waste of time," says Ambrose. "I love winning, winning is a nice feeling. I don't take losing very well."
Fortunately, that was never much of a problem. Between 1988 and 2000, only Australia - to win the 2019 Ashes in the latest cricket betting - won more Test matches than the West Indies. Until 1995 they saw a steady steam in their win-loss ratio, which remained second-best. Following that year they lost their momentum and the standard of the team around then began to decline.
Walsh and Ambrose played a combined 230 Test matches, with their individual wicket-taking tallies - 519 for Walsh and 405 for Ambrose - culminating in 924 test matches overall.
They opened the bowling together in 52 Test matches, sending 412 batsmen back to their benches. This sort of number is almost unprecedented in the game. Only two new-ball partnerships have managed more scalps.
"I think we set the bar," Walsh says. "History will tell you that our records were broken, but it's good to be able to say that."
Were it not for a couple of twists of fate, the pair might never have even met.
"From a young age I used to bowl with much older guys, but cricket wasn't my love," says Ambrose.
Ambrose would have ended up in a completely different stadium if it wasn't for the divine intervention from his mother.
"My
first
love
has
always
been
basketball,
followed
by
football.
Cricket
was
third
in
line.
"Fortunately,
my
mother
-
who
is
a
cricket
fanatic
-
wanted
a
cricketer
in
the
family.
She
was
the
driving
force,
and
deserves
all
the
credit
for
getting
me
into
cricket."
He
said.
Walsh also nearly headed down a different path.
"Originally
when
I
started
I
was
a
spinner,"
he
says.
"I
did
everything
to
spin
the
ball.
"But
there
was
this
concrete
strip
at
Melbourne
Cricket
Club
in
Jamaica,
where
Michael
Holding
used
to
play,
and
I
used
to
run
in
and
bowl
fast
on
that.
That's
where
it
all
started."
Walsh eventually broke into the West Indies team as a fast bowler in 1984, and was united with Ambrose four years later.
Initially, the pair had little to do with each other. It wasn't precisely bromance at first sight. But the on-field chemistry began to blossom once they were forced to spend more time together off the field.
"Our partnership didn't start from when I made the team," Ambrose says.
"In 1990 we became roommates, and that is when we learnt a lot more about each other and our friendship really started."
"We'd
have
good
nights
where
we'd
have
dinner
together,
we'd
chat,
we'd
discuss
other
things
than
just
cricket,"
Walsh
says.
"It
helped
us
to
understand
each
other,
and
how
we
each
thought
about
things."
What followed was a start of a beautiful friendship that resonated towards their partnership on-field.
The partnership would set the benchmark for all to follow. Of the three new-ball partnerships to take over 400 wickets, Walsh and Ambrose beat the others to the post, reaching the milestone before Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis of Pakistan and England's Anderson and Broad.
"There
is
no
secret
or
magic
to
it,"
Ambrose
says.
"If
he
[Walsh]
was
taking
wickets,
then
my
job
was
simply
to
make
sure
I
kept
the
same
pressure
from
the
same
end.
If
it
was
my
day,
he'd
do
the
same."
"We
looked
after
each
other,"
says
Walsh.
"I
would
look
to
him
from
the
boundary
and
tell
him
what
I
had
seen
or
what
I
had
noticed.
And
he
would
do
the
same
for
me.
"The best partnerships complement each other, but don't compete against each other."
The competitive juices must occasionally have been flowing, though?
"Yeah,
we
would
always
have
a
smile,
seeing
who
was
going
to
get
the
most
wickets
that
day,"
says
Walsh.
"But
it
was
a
jovial
thing."
"Curtly
was
the
sort
of
guy
who
said,
'Let's
see
who
can
do
things
first.'"
Walsh
can
lay
claim
to
the
ultimate
prize.
He
describes
the
moment
when
he
became
the
first
bowler
to
take
500
wickets
in
Test
cricket
as
the
highlight
of
his
career.
Yet
Ambrose
emphatically
won
the
pair's
daily
competition
when
he
took
7-1
in
one
spell
against
Australia
in
January
1993;
"a
really
freakish
moment
-
something
that
is
unheard
of".
The
pair's
relationship
was
put
to
the
test
in
1994,
when
Walsh
replaced
Richie
Richardson
as
the
West
Indies
captain,
potentially
adding
an
awkward
dynamic
to
the
relationship.
Fortunately, Ambrose's sense of fun prevailed. He ensured that the transition was painless.
"When Courtney became captain, I still had choice of ends," he says. "So of course I always said to him, 'I'm going to choose the end with the breeze at my back, and you've got to bowl into the wind'.
"He's a joker, so he said, 'Man, I'm the captain and you're still ordering me around'. It never turned into a problem."
Ultimately, Walsh and Ambrose had a common goal that would always denigrate any personal tension.
"One of the highlights of the West Indies team was that we cherished everybody's company," says Walsh.
The formula to sustain the team spirit was quite simple. They chose the team before any personal skirmishes.
"It was a tremendous effort all round - every time you looked at that particular team you'd think, 'Wow'. What we did was what the team required first and foremost."
So the it's the last call.The bell has been rung, as Anderson and Broad prepare for what will surely be their final Ashes series as a pair. The greatest fast bowling partnership of all time will have the undivided attention of the fans. Their refined partnership will be part of the games discourse for years to come. Walsh and Ambrose will be right in the mix, but they won't really care about the conclusion. It's not about who wins or loses ( although a win is always appreciated) it's about how the game is played. And they've played one hell of a game.
The sections in quotations are taken from The Insider.