ICC World Cup 2019 | It's going to be really tough for West Indies to reach semis, states Curtly Ambrose

06/18/2019

Curtly Ambrose has expressed his disappointment on seeing West Indies struggle to even reach the next round of the World Cup considering the country used to be one of the best teams in the world when he was a player. He went on to discuss the art of pace bowling as seen in the World Cup so far.

After a sensational start to the World Cup campaign which saw them win against Pakistan by seven wickets and 35+ overs to spare, West Indies’ fortune has since had a steep decline. A winless streak of four matches including three losses and an abandoned match has seen them lying at a lowly seventh spot with three points.

Curtly Ambrose, widely considered as the best bowler of all time with 405 Test wickets at an average of 21, has seen the golden days of West Indies cricket that saw him and Courtney Walsh dominate the world. Hence, it is a hard pill to swallow for him seeing his country in such a terrible state.

“Of course it hurts to see the West Indies struggle. Once upon a time, you were the best team in the world for many, many years. I used to play. I know what it’s like to be the best team,” Ambrose was quoted as saying in Bangladesh newspaper Daily Star.

West Indies will need to win all of their remaining four matches to even have the slightest chance of qualifying for the semi-finals. With them yet to play teams like India and New Zealand, they have their work cut out. However, Ambrose is yet to lose hope.

“The way they (West Indies) are going now, it is going to be really, really tough to get into the semifinals. There might be some upsets along the way, there may be weather interventions, so they have to keep winning,” he said.

So far, the World Cup has gone as expected. All the teams that had favourable odds before its start are currently sitting on top of the table and are well placed to finish in the top four. Bangladesh is the only team that has been able to pull off any major upset so far having defeated South Africa, while their win against the Carribean team in the last match seemed pretty routine.

“Most of the cricket pundits figure that the top four teams are Australia, India, New Zealand, and England and everyone expects them to be in the semifinal. I am hoping to see some upsets, to be honest, to keep the World Cup interesting. You don’t want it to be a straightforward World Cup. I am hoping West Indies make the semifinals,” Ambrose added.

The only positive so far for West Indies has been their brand of fast bowling. They managed to completely outplay Pakistan and Australia’s top order in the department, though since they have faltered a bit in an attempt to do too much.

“Becoming a great fast bowler is not always bowling 90 miles an hour. If you bowl 90mph and can’t put the ball in the right areas, it’s a waste of time. So even if you bowl 85mph and you can swing the ball or seam the ball, you will get wickets. So the basic foundation of becoming a great fast bowler is not speed – when you got speed, it helps, because the batsmen will be cautious and worried – but the basic foundation is to be able to bowl a proper line and length consistently and do something with the ball, and then you’ll get wickets,” Ambrose voiced his valuable opinion.

West Indies play their next game against New Zealand on Saturday in what is a must win contest.