ECB Coaches Association links Inside Edge 6 May 2018 | Page 26

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F I N D I N G R H Y T H M – W I T H T H E N E W B A L L A N D T H E G U I TA R

“Because of my height I just hated seeing batsmen on the front foot
driving. First of all when I started my career, a yorker or bouncer were my
options. I would bowl a few bouncers to shift the batsman’s weight onto the
back foot and then I would slip in a few yorkers. That worked well to start with,
but as time went on and I played at the highest level I realised I would have to
do something different. I developed a natural length, what I call half and half,
just back of a length where it wasn’t quite full enough for a batsman to play
on the front foot, but it is not short enough to play back, so you are caught in
two minds. Then with a bit of extra bounce I could get a nick. People talk about
hitting the top of off, but it depends on what sort of pitch you are playing on.
A pitch with good bounce I am most reliant on the keeper and slip cordon to
take wickets. If it is a lower bouncing pitch I will try and hit top of off, and then
my thoughts were mainly about bowled and LBW. So my length, and my way
of getting a batsman out, depended on the surface”.

He is turning his attention nowadays to coaching and to helping others.
He seems to rue the fact the West Indies did not have a specialist pace
bowling coach, even when they were all in their pomp. He has a clear coaching
philosophy, which will no doubt help him in his new role.

“When I started I never really had a coach. We were so successful nobody
really recognised that. Later on it was about encouraging me and keeping me
focused. By this time I had played for so many years people assumed there
was no need for much technical or tactical dialogue. People assumed because
I had done well I didn’t need any help, but that is not the right way to go. From
my experience, it does not matter how good you are as a cricketer, everyone
has shortcomings. If the coach knows you well enough as a player and a
person they can recognise these issues and they should always be talking to
you.”

The common perception of the great West Indies teams of the 80s and
90s is lots of natural raw talent, lots of big confident characters, and lots of
swashbuckling performances. Like so often in cricket, Sir Curtly says the
perception did match the reality. Success came through hard work and grit,
rather than effortlessly.
<
Curtly Ambrose fires
another hostile delivery
on the second day of
the final Test at the Oval.
CONTINUE
“Your legs are so, so, so
important, because if your legs
can’t carry you there’s no way
you’ll be able to bowl.”