During the mauling at the hands of South Africa in their last World Cup clash at Sydney last week, West Indies bowling coach Curtly Ambrose took to the boundary line in an effort to stop what was going on but the only way he could have done that was bowling the ball himself.
South Africa racked up 409 and the West Indies bowlers were hammered to all parts of the historic ground.
Ambrose said, “I’ve got the ultimate respect from the players. That makes my job a lot easier. We talk about cricket a lot. I have no problems with them. Being involved is something that…I mean I’ve played this game for many years, so as a coach I don’t like just to sit back when things aren’t going well. I like to go out and offer them some words of advice and tell them what I think they are doing wrong, that kind of thing.
“None of us knows everything and going around the boundary line is something I don’t like to do very often because it would appear the guys can’t think for themselves. But there are points that you have to go, when things aren’t going well. So when you see me walking around the boundary line is when I can’t take anymore of it. I like to give guys a chance to work things out for themselves. But once it gets to a point where they are really struggling then I step in.”
Despite their inconsistent performances to date, the former Test great says given time, they can turn it around and become a force to be reckoned with again.
“There is never a question of talent. We are a nation of talented cricketers. I honestly have always said that after my cricketing days I would really love to put back into West Indies cricket. So I joined the team in 2014. I am enjoying the job. It’s a bit of a challenge considering that we are very inconsistent with our game at the moment but I believe that given enough time, we can turn things around and be a force to be reckoned with again.”
Ambrose will hope that his charges take his advice against India in tomorrow morning on a pitch that he loved bowling on at The WACA.