West Indies always has had a great reputation of producing great fast bowlers. Jaul Garner, Late Marshall, Holding, Walsh and Ambrose are some great names in this long list of fast bowlers. Ambrose made his way in the team in that very season and never looked back. His career was no doubt a career of a truly great cricketer.
Ambrose is also in the club of those rare bowlers who have taken more than 400 wickets in test cricket. Walsh, Kapil, Hadlee and Wasim are the other four bowlers. He took 405 wickets at an average of 20.99 with best of 8 for 45. His econ rate is 2.3 runs per over for a career lasting more than 12 years in which he bowled about 3683 overs. He took more than 5 wickets in an innings on 22 occasions and took 10 wickets in a match on 3 occasions.
Ambrose was no mug with bat. Although his batting statistics does not show his batting abilities yet he has performed quite well with bat on numerous occasions. In the 98 test matches he played, he scored 1439 runs in 145 innings with highest of 53. He scored only one fifty in test cricket.
His ODI record is equally good. In 176 matches, he took 225 wickets at an average of 24.12 with best of 5 wickets for 17 runs. His econ rate is no doubt among the best in the world, just 3.48. He took 4 wickets or more 10 times in ODIs. He scored 639 runs in 96 innings with highest of 31* at an average of 10.65.
Ambrose during his early days relied mainly on pace and was known as a "wicket blowing" bowler. With the passage of time, he matured and became one of the most economical and accurate bowler of world.
He also won the Wisdon cricketer of year award in 1992, in appreciation of his great cricket skills.
Although he has taken retirement from the world of cricket yet he will remain alive always and always in the hearts of the cricket lovers not only due to his great cricketing skills but also due to his great and lovable personality.
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