Forgotten Spell – Curtly Ambrose 6 for 52 vs England at Leeds in June 1991

This blog post is about the forgotten spell of Curtly Ambrose 6 for 52 vs. England at Leeds in June 1991. Curtly Ambrose is one of my favorite fast bowlers. A 6.7” tall, deadly, dangerous, and accurate fast bowler? A giant of the game, with extreme pace, seam movement, and spotlessly grooved action. He played 98 Test matches for the West Indies and took 405 Test wickets to be acknowledged as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time.

His oversize height allowed him to make the ball bounce extraordinarily high after he delivered it; due to his pace and accuracy, it made him a very intricate bowler for batsmen to face. In 1992, Ambrose was chosen as one of Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year. After retirement, Ambrose was selected for the ICC Hall of Fame and the West Indies All-Time XI.

In the First Test of 1991 at Leeds in early June, his spell of 6 for 52 against England was one of his forgotten spells. In the first inning, he went 2 for 49. (Wicket of two tail-enders, Phil Defriates, and Steve Watkins.). While in the 2nd inning, he was completely outstanding and demolished England, batting with a vicious spell of 6 for 52. He dismissed Mike Atherton for 6, Graeme Hick for 6, Allan Lamb for 0, Mark Ramprakash for 27, Robin Smith for 0, and Jack Russell for 4. Despite his marvelous effort, WI lost the match by 115 runs. Graham Gooch was declared man of the match by his mammoth 154 not out in the 2nd innings.

Let’s watch Ambrose spell.