West Indies’ glory days of the past may never come, said legendary former fast bowler Curtly Ambrose. Ambrose said that the West Indies could also be ready to be competitive and climb up the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) rankings again but the team may never be ready to dominate world cricket the way they did during his playing days.
“When we were the simplest team within the world, West Indians everywhere the world could walk and boast about how good we were because we were the simplest, so it’s getting to be difficult to ascertain those glory days again. Yes, we will be competitive and climb up the ICC rankings and be a force to be reckoned with again, but those glory days, i do not think we’ll see them again,” said Ambrose on the Talk-Sports sleep in Antigua.
Ambrose said that while he doesn’t suggest any disrespect to the present generation, most younger players don’t quite know what cricket means to Caribbean people living within the islands and abroad.
“Most of the kids we’ve now probably don’t quite understand what cricket means to West Indians within the West Indies and abroad because cricket is that the only sport that basically unites Caribbean people,” he said.
“This is not any disrespect to the players we’ve now because we have a few of men who have some quality in them and may become great, but what we’ve to know is that I do not think we’ll ever see those great, exceptional glory days again,” he said.
Ambrose took 405 Test wickets in 98 matches and 225 ODI wickets in 176 matches between 1988 and 2000. he’s West Indies’ second highest wicket-taker of all time in both formats, behind his famous former bowling partner Courtney Walsh.
“It’s getting to be difficult to seek out another Viv Richards or a (Desmond) Haynes and (Gordon) Greenidge, a Brian Lara, Richie Richardson, you know, a Malcolm Marshall, Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh, Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, and therefore the list goes on and on, Clive Lloyd. It’s getting to be extremely difficult to seek out those quality players again,” said Ambrose.
