At 51, Curtly Ambrose still makes the ball zip

Rohit Mahajan

It was quite an amazing sight. Curtly Ambrose, the bowling coach and mentor of the West Indies, took the ball during nets at the Murdoch University ground today. Now, Ambrose is 51 years old. He last played for West Indies in September 2000. On the positive side, he remains over two metres long, and quite fit. The last two attributes were to the fore today. He bowled at the nets, and was able to make the ball zip. The batsmen facing him played him with respect — surely, it wasn’t just the respect of a player for a coach known for his bouts of temper? Ambrose did bowl well, actually — he hit a good line and length and was able to push the batsmen back on the back foot. Ambrose, also, retains the reticence of his playing day. He used to turn down requests for interview with this line: “Curtly talk to no man.” Curtly still talk to no man. The West Indies media manager said Ambrose wouldn’t talk, but that his forthcoming book could be a good substitute to a chat.

Clarke and the Afghans
Michael Clarke, the Australian captain, is a friendly guy off the field. He got a shock on his return to cricket after a break due to injury, when New Zealand beat his team. Two days on, Clarke was cheerful enough. When the Australians arrived at the ground and made their way to their dressing room, the Afghan players were lounging outside their own dressing room; some were talking with the media. No words were exchanged then. A little while later, the Afghan players were down in the ground, doing a TV interview. Clarke went down to the ground, to join some of his teammates there. Then, he suddenly turned right and joined the Afghanistan players. The Afghans seemed a bit awed by the unexpected presence of the classy batsman among themselves. They exchanged a few words with the home captain. “He wished us well for the game,” Afghanistan opener Mohammed Javed Ahmadi later said.