Curtly Ambrose - Early Life and Career

Early Life and Career

Ambrose was born in Swetes, Antigua on 21 September 1963, the fourth of seven children born to a carpenter from the village. The family had no background in cricket, but his mother was a fan, and Ambrose played in his youth, primarily as a batsman. At school, he performed well academically, particularly in mathematics and French, and became an apprentice carpenter upon leaving at the age of 17. He briefly considered emigrating to America. At the time, his favourite sport was basketball, although he occasionally umpired cricket matches. Ambrose was not particularly tall until he reached his late teens, when he grew several inches to reach a height of 6 feet 7 inches (2.01 m). Around this time, his mother encouraged him to become more involved in cricket. Success as a fast bowler in a softball cricket match persuaded Ambrose to play in some club matches at the age of 20. He quickly attracted the attention of coaches and progressed to the St John's cricket team. Selected in the Leeward Islands competition, he took seven for 67 (seven wickets for 67 runs) for Antigua against St Kitts. He made his first-class debut for the Leeward Islands in 1985–86 and took four wickets in the game, but failed to retain his place the following year. A local scholarship provided funding for him to play in English club cricket for Chester Boughton Hall in the Liverpool league during 1986. The following year, he returned to England to play for Heywood Cricket Club in the Central Lancashire League, for whom he took 115 wickets in the season; the experiences helped to improve his bowling technique.

When he returned to Antigua, Ambrose was determined to regain his place in the Leeward Islands team and practised hard. He was selected and, in the absence of leading bowlers Winston Benjamin and Eldine Baptiste with the West Indies team, became the main attacking bowler in the side. He was no-balled for throwing in the first match, which Wisden Cricketers' Almanack later attributed to confusion caused by his attribute of flicking his wrist prior to releasing the ball to impart extra pace, and there were no subsequent doubts about the legality of his bowling action. Retaining his place when the international bowlers returned, he took 35 wickets—including 12 in a match against Guyana, of which nine were bowled—in five matches in the competition to set a new record for most wickets in a season. Wisden's report on the West Indian season said his performance was "dominant", although few had heard of him previously. Identifying his yorker as his most effective delivery, it noted that he "never lost his pace, his accuracy, or his thirst for wickets".