Mid-Day

St John's (Antigua), Jun 6: Curtly Ambrose is one bowler who knows best the use of a good bouncer. He first realised it in Allan Border’s 100th Test in 1988 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The stadium was abuzz with anticipation and excitement when Border walked in to bat. Those were the days when fast bowlers had their teeth and there was no restriction on the bouncers.

Bouncing Border

The raw and unknown Ambrose, playing his second series, dared the hostility of the partisan crowd by greeting Border with a barrage of bouncers — three in a row. In the next over, he slipped in a yorker and a dazed Border’s stumps lay shattered. He was out for zero in his 100th Test.

It’s natural that Ambrose is up in arms against the International Cricket Council rule restricting the number of bouncers in an over. During his illustrious career, Ambrose saw ICC experiment with rules to restrict the use of bouncers from one per over to the current two in Tests.

‘Reduces thrill’

For Ambrose, this rule has taken away one of the great beauties of the game. “The bowler hurling a bouncer and the batsman going for the hook shot was the most exciting part of watching a cricket match. Richards, without a helmet, going for the hook was thrilling. This rule is crap, they need to change it.”

“The conditions, the rules, everything is loaded for the batsmen; it is 90-10 against the bowlers,” said Ambrose, who has 405 Test wickets.

Talking about the flat wickets in his country, Ambrose said it is a real hard work. “I never complained. If there is juice in the wicket your eyes light up and you lick your lips in anticipation. If it’s flat, you are frustrated but as a professional you do your job.

“Loads of patience was the key to be successful on flat wickets,” he said.