Ambrose - the silent assassin
Curtly Ambrose, who was inducted into the ICC's Hall of Fame during the ICC awards ceremony in London, tormented some of the best batsmen of his era, Rob Bagchi writes in the Guardian
Dustin Silgardo
25-Feb-2013
Curtly Ambrose, who was inducted into the ICC's Hall of Fame during the ICC awards ceremony in London, tormented some of the best batsmen of his era, Rob Bagchi writes in the Guardian. Ambrose's special skill, Bagchi writes, was as an ability to get on a roll when Caribbean pride was at stake and skittle teams in plundering spells.
He was a magnificent bowler, a terrifying prospect to face, capable of inflicting serious injury as the ball sped out of his hand at 90mph plus from a height of 10 feet. But elite batsmen are not physical cowards and the danger he posed them was more subtle, shredding their technique as he made them contort into S-shapes to fend off his steepling bounce, his remorselessly precise line snuffing out their scoring shots and the spectre of his devastating yorker arrowing towards their toe-caps kindling their insecurity.
Dustin Silgardo is a former sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo