Consistency high on Sir Curtly Ambrose’s agenda at fast-bowling clinic

Story and photos By Brandon Corlette

“You cannot build a house from the roof; you need a foundation.” That was the analogy used by legendary West Indies fast bowler Sir Curtly Ambrose at the Albion Community Centre Cricket Club on the first day of his fast-bowling clinic.
It was another historic day in Berbice cricket, and for most of the cricketers present at Albion, learning from Ambrose is a dream come true. The great man noted that consistency was key for fast bowlers to succeed.
“A lot of fast bowlers on show, the basic thing that we did this morning was to do some spot bowling. I want these guys to consistently hit a good area on the pitch. What I have said to them, and many other fast bowlers, is that it does not matter how fast you can bowl, or how you can seam or swing the ball. If you cannot consistently hit the ball on a good spot, what we call line and length, nothing will work,” he said.

Ambrose, who played 98 Tests for the West Indies, and claimed 405 wickets at the remarkable average of 21.00, and played 176 One-Day International matches, taking 225 wickets at 24.12, said he was thankful for this visit, which was long overdue.

“Well, first of all, I want to say it is really a pleasure to be here in Guyana again. I am no stranger, I have been coming here since 1986, so I have a bit of a history. Almost a year ago, Mr Hilbert Foster contacted me about this camp, saying about Dr [Frank] Denbow would like me to come to Guyana to do a camp with some young aspiring fast bowlers. However, my time did not mesh, but now that I have a little break, I decided to make the trip here, and I am certainly looking forward to it,” Ambrose stated.
He also said he was impressed with quite a few of the pacers on show, but some of them will have to improve.
“There are quite a few that I am impressed with. Some of them need some more work, but what I find from my experience in cricket, is that you never stop learning. So far, the first session went well. We will have a second session, and I said to them, I do not judge bowlers from their first spell, because you come out first morning of a game, you are fresh, anybody can look good. I want to see them bowling two, three and four spells in a day, and I will judge them better,” Ambrose declared.

Meanwhile, Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) President Hilbert Foster said the main objective of this camp is to have Berbice produce more fast bowlers. Fast bowler John Trim was Berbice’s first Test player in 1948, and more than 60 years later, fellow quick Brandon Bess played one Test in 2010.
“We are hoping with the inspiration from Sir Curtly that if we can get at least five of them to go on to play for Guyana and the West Indies, this camp will be a total success,” Foster said.
The clinic will continue today, Saturday, February 12 and conclude on Sunday, February 13.
The participants in the fast bowling clinic included Isai Thorne, Daniel Vivickanand, Christopher Ogle, Arvin Jaikaran, Trisha Hardat, Darshanie Subramanie, Natran Gill, Shamar Joseph, Gevon Schultz, Isia Anderson, Joel Davis, Collis Hardcourt, Nicholas Ishar, Arif Khan, Shiv Harripersaud, Dave Pretipaul, Khemraj Tika, Sohail Hardwar, Christopher Deeroop, Arif Esau, Manoo Inasi, Nareem Khan, Shamal Angel, Quincy Alder, Demetri Cameron, Steven Kamalal, Joel Cort, Devendra Latchman, Omal Saul, Arvin Jowahir, Nicholas Hall, Nicholas Lepps, Adrian Hetmyer, Ronny James, Adrian Norton, Jonathan Outar, Teon Campbell, Sylus Tyndal, Leon Swammy, Keon Sinclair, Chris Harry, Javed Karim, Kevlon Anderson, and Raymond Vankenie.