A Tribute To The Reluctant Cricketer: Curtly Ambrose

By: Garfield Robinson
Nigel Kennedy was a left-handed opening batsman playing his debut season of first-class cricket in the 1988 regional Red Stripe Cup. Like any up and coming player he was hoping to make a good impression on his first outing. Maybe he even harboured dreams of one day opening the batting for the West Indies.

Fate, however, conspired to deal the young opener a gigantic dose of misfortune. It turns out that in his first game for his country he came up against a bowler who seemed to have shot out of the blue like a terrible clap of thunder. A 6’7 Antiguan, bowling with rare pace and aggression, who forced him out of commission by breaking his arm. Curtly Ambrose went to become one of the most demanding and metronomic pacers in the game, but in his early years he was an intimidating proposition. He made batsmen fear for their well-being; nobody wanted to face him.
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